Global Poker Index: Kempe Ahead in POY, Foxen Takes Back Overall Lead
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. Below we look at the 2019 Player of the Year race and overall GPI rankings as of July 31.
2019 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | 2019 GPI POY Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rainer Kempe | 3401.13 |
| 2 | Bryn Kenney | 3254.17 |
| 3 | Manig Loeser | 3052.91 |
| 4 | Sean Winter | 3031.11 |
| 5 | Jeremy Ausmus | 2943.48 |
| 6 | Alex Foxen | 2883.81 |
| 7 | Sam Greenwood | 2789.97 |
| 8 | Stephen Chidwick | 2755.48 |
| 9 | Kristen Bicknell | 2740.39 |
| 10 | Ali Imsirovic | 2737.60 |
It's a new month, which makes it time once again to check the Global Poker Index rankings to see what has changed since the start of July.
When it comes to the 2019 GPI Player of the Year race, not too much has changed at the very top of the leaderboard, but a couple of players have made some moves to position themselves for a potential run at the title.
Rainer Kempe led this list a month ago and he still does today, having stayed at No. 1 for six straight weeks after taking over the lead from Bryn Kenney in mid-June. Kenney remains at No. 2, with Manig Loeser (No. 3) and Sean Winter (No. 4) also right where they were a month ago.
Meanwhile Jeremy Ausmus has climbed into the POY Top 10. Ausmus was sitting outside of the top 100 just a few weeks ago. Then came a runner-up finish in the partypoker MILLIONS Vegas at the ARIA won by Tom Marchese, followed by more cashes at the World Series of Poker to vault him up to No. 5.
That moved Ausmus ahead of Alex Foxen (No. 6). Meanwhile Sam Greenwood jumped up 20 spots to No. 7 a couple of weeks ago following his deep run in the WSOP Main Event — that but for an unfortunate river card might have been much deeper — where he finished 45th.
Stephen Chidwick (No. 8) likewise climbed up into the Top 10 last month after following up his first career WSOP bracelet win with a third-place finish in the DeepStack Championship Poker Series CPPT Main Event won by Andrey Pateychuk.
Rounding out the current Top 10 are Kristen Bicknell (No. 9) who cashed eight times at the WSOP and Ali Imsirovic (No. 10) who cashed four times.
Overall GPI Top 10
| Rank | Player | Overall GPI Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Foxen | 3847.70 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | 3847.45 |
| 3 | Rainer Kempe | 3498.42 |
| 4 | Bryn Kenney | 3490.95 |
| 5 | Jeremy Ausmus | 3415.93 |
| 6 | Manig Loeser | 3321.70 |
| 7 | Ali Imsirovic | 3267.32 |
| 8 | David Peters | 3253.51 |
| 9 | Ryan Riess | 3207.41 |
| 10 | Joseph Cheong | 3194.38 |
The top of the overall GPI rankings also features mostly the same names who were there a month ago, although there has been some activity to report from the very top of the list.
After sitting at No. 1 for 37 straight weeks, Alex Foxen finally fell from the top spot at the end of June when Stephen Chidwick edged in front.
Since then those two have traded the lead back and forth a couple of times since, with Foxen once again moving in front with the latest update. Chidwick's deep run in the partypoker MILLIONS Vegas highlighted his July, while Foxen added more WSOP cashes to finish the series with 10 total, thereby enabling him to keep pace.
Note how close Foxen and Chidwick are at present, currently less than half a GPI point apart.
Meanwhile there was little significant movement otherwise to report, aside from Jeremy Ausmus also moving up to No. 5 here in the overall rankings.
Ausmus has just over $7.75 million in career earnings, his biggest cash coming in 2012 when he finished fifth in the 2012 WSOP Main Event for $2,155,313. Ausmus first moved into the Top 10 at the start of July, peaking at No. 4 a week ago for his highest-career ranking.
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.
