2018 WSOP Player of the Year: Shaun Deeb Moves Into the Lead

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Jun 26, 2018 3 min read

Last week in this space we were remarking how Shaun Deeb, sitting in 11th place in the 2018 World Series of Poker Player of the Year race seven days ago, was then the highest-ranked player on the POY list without a bracelet.

This week Deeb broke through in a couple of ways, winning his second career bracelet and a big $1,402,683 first prize by topping the field in Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller — his 10th cash of the summer — and vaulting up the leaderboard into first position in the POY race.

Here's a look at how the 2018 WSOP POY Top 10 appears of this morning, Tuesday, June 26:

John Hennigan was in second position a week ago, and even enjoyed a brief period at No. 1 last week after pushing his total number of cashes up to six, the highlight so far being his having earned his fifth career WSOP bracelet in Event #27: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. He's back in second, though, after Deeb's rush to the front.

Elio Fox led the POY race for the first three weeks before slipping to third this week, having jumped ahead of the field after winning Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty and taking second in Event #5: $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller.

Mario Prats Garcia moved up to fourth this week after winning Event #45: Big Blind Antes $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em, while Eric Baldwin also picked up his second career bracelet in Event #37: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em to push up into fifth in the POY standings.

Paul Volpe has five cashes so far this WSOP including a victory in Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, putting him in sixth. Joe Cada likewise has cashed five times and won a bracelet in Event #3: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, keeping him in seventh at present.

Ben Yu has nine cashes in this year’s WSOP, with his most recent two being near-misses with a third-place in Event #38: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship won by Yaniv Birman, and a runner-up in the $25K PLO High Roller won by Deeb, all of which is enough to put Yu in eighth place in the current standings.

Daniel Ospina won Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw a few weeks ago, and he’s added two more cashes and a third-place finish to move up to ninth. Rounding out the Top 10 is Dylan Linde who has yet to win a bracelet but made two final tables over the last week.

Peeking just outside the current Top 10, Ryan Bambrick (11th), Jesse Martin (12th), Julien Martini (13th), and Event #33: $50,000 Poker Players Championship winner Michael Mizrachi (14th) are all close to moving up onto the list.

About the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year

The 2018 WSOP POY race includes events from this summer's WSOP in Las Vegas as well as from the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe series in Rozvadov, Czech Republic later this year (Oct. 11-Nov. 2). Finishes in 72 of the 78 bracelet events at the 2018 WSOP will count toward the POY, with the following six events excluded:

• Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em
• Event #32: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em
• Event #36: Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em
• Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em
• Event #57: $1,000/$10,000 Ladies Event
• Event #78: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop

We're providing a weekly update on the race here at PokerNews, but don’t forget you can additionally visit the WSOP Player of the Year page for the latest standings. Also located there is a "Point Calculator" with which you can determine how points from upcoming events will be awarded according to the number of entries.

• Tags WSOP Shaun Deeb John Hennigan Elio Fox Mario Prats Garcia Eric Baldwin Paul Volpe Joe Cada Ben Yu Daniel Ospina Dylan Linde
• Related Tournaments World Series of Poker
• Related Players Shaun DeebJohn HenniganEric BaldwinJoe CadaElio FoxPaul Volpe