2016 WSOP POY: Jason Mercier Extends Lead, 500+ Pts. Ahead of Martin Kozlov in 2nd
The 2016 World Series of Poker has already crossed the halfway point, with the 2016 WSOP Player of the Year race as powered by the Global Poker Index continuing to take shape as it does. Remember with no WSOP series happening elsewhere this year, the 2016 WSOP POY will be wholly determined by the open bracelet events playing out at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino.
Jason Mercier continues to add cashes and maintain a healthy lead in the POY race. While he understandably couldn’t match the previous week’s two bracelets and one runner-up finish, Mercier still had a strong week adding four more cashes, including another final table in a $10,000 buy-in event, Event #32: Omaha Hi-Low Split Eight-or-Better Championship where he finished eighth.
Those cashes enabled Mercier to open up quite a lead over the chase pack, although there’s still a lot of poker yet to be played before a POY is crowned. Here’s a look at the current top 10 as reported by the GPI this morning:
| Position | Player | WSOP POY Points | Cashes | Highlights |
| 1 | Jason Mercier | 1782.65 | 8 | Won $10K 2-7 NL (#16); Won $10K H.O.R.S.E. (#24); 2nd in $10K Razz (#20); 8th in $10K Omaha Hi-Low (#32) |
| 2 | Martin Kozlov | 1252.58 | 5 | Won $10K NLH 6-Max (#39); 5th in $3K NLH 6-Max (#21) |
| 3 | Benny Glaser | 1156.57 | 4 | Won $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low (#26); Won $10K Omaha Hi-Low (#32); 5th in $10K 2-7 NL (#16) |
| 4 | Michael Semenov | 1125.12 | 5 | 5th in $10K Dealer’s Choice (#11); 5th in $10K H.O.R.S.E. (#24); 7th in $1,500 Millionaire Maker (#14) |
| 5 | Ryan Laplante | 1073.13 | 9 | Won $565 PLO (#12) |
| 6 | Ian Johns | 1059.50 | 4 | Won $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. (#8); Won $10K Limit Hold’em (#28) |
| 7 | Paul Volpe | 1044.15 | 5 | Won $1,500 8-Game Mix (#15); 4th in $1,500 Dealer’s Choice (#5) |
| 8 | David Vamplew | 998.25 | 7 | 10th in $3K NLH 6-Max (#21) |
| 9 | Bart Lybaert | 984.90 | 8 | 2nd in $1K NLH Top-Up Turbo (#4); 7th in $1,500 8-Game (#15) |
| 10 | Stephen Chidwick | 982.43 | 6 | 6th in $10K 2-7 NL Draw (#16); 10th in $3K NLH Shootout (#42) |
Martin Kozlov wasn’t on this top 10 list a week ago, but he’s now collected five cashes to bolt up into second position currently. Among Kozlov’s scores were two deep runs in six-handed no-limit hold’em events, including a fifth-place finish in Event #21: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed and a victory in Event #39: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed Championship to earn him his first career bracelet.
Speaking of doing well in multiple events featuring the same variant, last week Benny Glaser picked up his second bracelet of the summer (and third overall), which like his first was in Omaha Hi-Low, this time in the $10K Championship (Event #32). That result helped put Glaser in third position on the POY leaderboard, with Michael Semenov (at #4) and Ryan Laplante (at #5) also adding cashes and points this week. Laplante’s nine cashes are the most of anyone so far, with several players sitting with eight (including Mercier).
The third two-bracelet winner of the summer, Ian Johns, sits just outside the top five at #6, followed by Paul Volpe (at #7) and David Vamplew (at #8). Vamplew has yet to make a final table this year, though his seven cashes have been enough to move him into the current top 10, with eight-time casher Bart Lybaert (at #9) and Stephen Chidwick (at #10) rounding out the list.
Sitting just outside the current top 10 this morning are Michael Gathy (#11), Chris Ferguson (#12), Mike Watson (#13), Randy Ohel (#14), and Yueqi Zhu (#15).
Mercier tops the POY list, though sits in fourth-place currently on the 2016 WSOP earnings list with $927,030 (according to WSOP.com). He trails three million-dollar earners — Jason DeWitt ($1,065,403), Benjamin Keeline ($1,007,929), and Garrett Greer ($1,000,000). DeWitt is currently at #151 in the POY race, Keeline #135, and Greer #253.
As always, if you’re curious you can figure out for yourself how many points players stand to make in various events using the WSOP POY calculator:
Click here to follow the constantly-updated 2016 WSOP Player of the Year race on the GPI site.
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