Global Poker Index: Calm Before the Storm -- 20 Weeks On Top for O’Dwyer Pre-WSOP
Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player’s results over six half-year periods. For a look at the entire list, visit the official GPI website. Here’s a look at the rankings as of May 25, 2016.
GPI 300 Top 10
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve O’Dwyer | 4329.51 | - |
| 2 | Anthony Zinno | 4193.75 | - |
| 3 | Bryn Kenney | 4187.31 | - |
| 4 | Fedor Holz | 4092.19 | - |
| 5 | Nick Petrangelo | 3989.70 | - |
| 6 | Jason Mercier | 3983.97 | - |
| 7 | Dominik Nitsche | 3877.86 | - |
| 8 | Tom Marchese | 3775.18 | - |
| 9 | Erik Seidel | 3744.50 | - |
| 10 | Connor Drinan | 3728.68 | +1 |
It was a quiet week at the top of the Global Poker Index rankings where Steve O’Dwyer remained the top-ranked tournament player in the world for a 20th-straight week. It’s the calm before the storm, though, as the 2016 World Series of Poker begins next week, throughout which there will surely be lots of movement up and down the GPI top 300.
The only change in the top 10, in fact, came at the bottom where Connor Drinan inched upwards one spot to knock David Peters off the list, though Peters is still close at No. 11.
Looking down the list, a steady stream of cashes this year has enabled 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Joe McKeehen to crack the top 25. This week McKeehen moved up from No. 33 to No. 25, his highest ranking to date.
Welcome to the GPI Top 300
| Rank | Player | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 194 | Bobby Oboodi | 1936.84 |
| 268 | Riley Fuller | 1736.94 |
| 278 | Yang Zhang | 1707.82 |
| 286 | Joe Ebanks | 1697.60 |
| 296 | Rep Porter | 1678.46 |
| 298 | Ognyan Dimov | 1673.28 |
| 299 | Eric Blair | 1672.20 |
Seven players joined the GPI top 300 this week, with Bobby Oboodi the highest-ranked of the group. Oboodi jumped from No. 309 all the way to No. 194 after chopping the 529-entry Parx Casino Big Stax XVI BigStax1100 this week with Jason Deutsch (with Deutsch earning the title). That followed a fourth-place finish in an 1,184-entry, $550 buy-in event at Parx just a week before for Oboodi. His ranking this week almost matches his previous career-high in the GPI when he was No. 189 (in January 2014).
Among the other newcomers this week, Yang Zhang is making his debut inside the top 300 after cashing a couple of times at the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monaco earlier this month, then taking runner-up in a HK$13,500 event in Macau in a 141-entry Asia Pacific Poker Tour tournament.
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 106 | Tim West | 2406.11 | +129 |
| 194 | Bobby Oboodi | 1936.84 | +115 |
| 286 | Joe Ebanks | 1697.60 | +99 |
| 268 | Riley Fuller | 1736.94 | +75 |
| 278 | Yang Zhang | 1707.82 | +33 |
Both Oboodi and Zhang made the “Biggest Gains” top five this week among players in the top 300, although Tim West enjoyed the biggest move upward after going from No. 235 to No. 106. West picked up points after cashing multiple times at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown last month, including a third-place showing in the $25,500 High Roller event won by David Malka.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 291 | Stan Jablonski | 1690.74 | -62 |
| 264 | Jonathan Borenstein | 1742.86 | -45 |
| 251 | Sorel Mizzi | 1773.65 | -40 |
| 117 | Hans Winzeler | 2346.19 | -31 |
| 170 | Ben Yu | 2038.94 | -23 |
This week’s “Biggest Drops” list (looking only at players retaining their spots inside the GPI top 300) is headed by Stan Jablonski who dipped from No. 229 to No. 291 this week.
What to Expect Next Week
As the poker world awaits the start of the 2016 WSOP next Wednesday, June 1, there’s plenty of tournament action elsewhere with the PokerNews live reporting team spread all over the globe to help bring it to you.
The 2016 Unibet Open Malta Main Event is underway as we speak. The 2016 Winamax SISMIX event is also ongoing with the second Day 1 flight happening right now. And in Nevada the team is assembled at the 2016 Run It Up Reno series to bring coverage of over a dozen events over the next week.
Click any of those highlighted links above for hand reports, chip counts, photos, and more from all three tournament series.
Also worth keeping an eye out for — the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas will be playing out from May 29-June 1, where a field of 49 (including many of poker's top tournament players) will be vying for a huge $15 million prize pool. You'll be able to follow the coverage of that one here on PokerNews as well — click here for more about the event, including how you could win $1 million yourself by picking the final seven finishers in order in the "MVMT Million Dollar Final Table Challenge."
To view the GPI overall rankings in their entirety, visit the official GPI website. While you’re at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.
