2019 WSOP Player of the Year: Robert Campbell Still Leads, Shaun Deeb Closes Gap

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Oct 18, 2019 3 min read

With the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe series back underway, the race for the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year has revived once more. As results come in and the leaderboard changes over the next few weeks, we'll continue our occasional updates as we find out together who will capture the 2019 WSOP POY title.

When the 2019 WSOP concluded in Las Vegas in July, Robert Campbell stood at the top of the leaderboard thanks in large part to his having been the only player to win two bracelets during the summer — one in Event #33: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw and another in the Event #67: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship.

Just behind Campbell were two former WSOP POY winners, 2018 winner Shaun Deeb in second and 2004 and 2013 winner Daniel Negreanu in third. All three of them are in Rozvadov, Czech Republic for the WSOPE. In fact; all three have picked up one cash already resulting in the race having tightened up heading into the series' first weekend.

2019 WSOP POY Top 10

Here's a look at the 2019 WSOP POY Top 10 following the most recent update by the WSOP overnight. The update includes points earned by players during the first two WSOPE events, Event #1: €350 Opener No-Limit Hold'em and Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha.

Campbell still leads while Deeb and Negreanu are also still second and third, respectively. All three cashed in Event #2, with Deeb's 18th-place finish the best of the trio. Deeb had been about 138 points behind Campbell when the WSOPE began, but now he's closed that gap to just over 14 points.

The next three spots are all the same as well, with Dan Zack (No. 4), Phillip Hui (No. 5), and Jason Gooch (No. 6) holding steady. Of those, only Hui has earned more POY points after likewise cashing in Event #2.

Anthony Zinno was at No. 10 to begin the WSOPE, but he's moved up to No. 7 now after finishing in 16th place in Event #2. Meanwhile Joseph Cheong is still at No. 8 and David "ODB" Baker" at No. 9, with Baker having added a few points after also cashing in Event #2.

Chris Ferguson had been at No. 10 to begin the WSOPE, and despite also making the money (and the points) in Event #2, he's slipped a couple of spots to No. 12. Ismael Bojang has replaced him in the Top 10, having moved up two spots thanks to a 14th-place showing in Event #1: €350 Opener No-Limit Hold'em.

Also worth mentioning today is the fact that Dash Dudley, winner of Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha, has jumped all the way up from No. 58 to No. 11 in the POY standings.

Dudley topped a field of 476 to win the title and €51,600 first prize. It was his second career bracelet, following the one he earned in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship in Las Vegas this past summer. That means he joins Campbell as the only multiple-bracelet winners during 2019.

Looking down the list a little, Jon Turner (No. 13), Scott Clements (No. 14), and Rick Alvarado (No. 15) all continue to hover just outside the Top 10.

About the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year

After changing the way POY points were calculated prior to last year, the WSOP has kept the same formula to determine this year's winner. The formula is "loosely based" on the one employed to calculate WSOP Circuit rankings, with modifiers based on buy-ins and field sizes.

At the time, the WSOP explained the changes had been made "to better reward bracelet winners and players who run deep, while still rewarding consistency." A couple of differences from the pre-2018 system include a bigger gap between points earned from first- and second-place finishes, and min-cashes being worth relatively less than was the case before.

Here's an information sheet provided by the WSOP that provides further details regarding the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year.

During the 2019 WSOP players earned points in 84 of the "open" bracelet events. The WSOP Europe schedule was expanded to 15 bracelet events, with all of them counting toward the Player of the Year except Event #4: €250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em.

As noted, we will continue to look in on the POY race periodically until the WSOP Europe concludes on November 4. Meanwhile you can see the entire Top 100 over the constantly updated WSOP Player of the Year page.

• Tags 2019 WSOP WSOP World Series of Poker Robert Campbell Shaun Deeb Daniel Negreanu Dan Zack Phillip Hui Jason Gooch Anthony Zinno Joseph Cheong David "ODB" Baker Ismael Bojang Dash Dudley
• Related Tournaments World Series of Poker
• Related Players Daniel NegreanuShaun DeebJoseph CheongIsmael BojangPhillip HuiAnthony Zinno