Yunkyu Song Wins WPT Season 22 Player of the Year Award
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The World Poker Tour (WPT) has officially announced that Yunkyu Song is the Season 22 Player of the Year.
With that in mind, Bin Weng is no longer the reigning champion. Weng had an unforgettable year of poker in 2023 that included a WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown title and fourth place finish at WPT Choctaw.
He couldn't replicate that success in 2024, however, leaving the door open for some other crushers to take the reins, none of whom could defeat Song.
Big Year for Song
It's rare for the WPT Player of the Year race to be wrapped up heading into the final month, and last year was no different. Song was in the driver's seat to win when the $10,400 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas began Dec. 14. But he had to either cash or hope Dylan Smith, Eric Afriat, and Landon Tice avoided deep runs.
He didn't cash in the season-ending championship event, and he really had a sweat when Smith reached Day 4 in the 2,392-entrant tournament. Luckily for Song, Smith went out in 127th place and didn't receive enough points to overtake his Player of the Year lead.
WPT Player of the Year Final Standings
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yunkyu Song | 2,275 |
| 2 | Dylan Smith | 2,150 |
| 3 | Eric Afriat | 1,750 |
| 4 | Landon Tice | 1,700 |
| 5 | Zak VanKeuren | 1,550 |
| 6 | Dan Stavila | 1,525 |
| 7 | Josh Reichard | 1,425 |
| 8 | Travis Endersby | 1,400 |
| 9 | Michael Wang | 1,325 |
| 10 | Jim Casement | 1,200 |
Smith, who won the WPT Seminole Rock 'N Roll Poker Open for $662,200 and took fifth in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship for another $230,000, cashed for over $1 million in live tournaments for the second straight year. He finished the World Poker Tour season with 2,150 points, not quite enough to best Song, who ended the year with 2,275. Afriat finished in third place with 1,750 points while Tice was right behind him at 1,700.
Song's Season 22 performance didn't include winning a Main Tour title, but he did win the WPT Prime Playground Championship for $164,251. The newest Player of the Year also finished runner-up in the WPT bestbet Scramble Championship in Jacksonville in November for $252,059. Afriat, who held a big chip lead during the early parts of the final table, busted in fourth place and could have taken down POY had he held onto that lead.
Song joins an exclusive club of World Poker Tour POY winners that includes Daniel Negreanu, Anthony Zinno, Jonathan Little, Brian Altman, and many other poker superstars. No player has won the award multiple times.
*Images courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
