The Global Poker Index is making some changes to its Player of the Year standings for 2017. These changes will be put in effect immediately.
Alex Dreyfus, founder of the GPI, has been listening to complaints from poker players. Many have complained the scoring system makes it impossible for anyone who doesn’t play in the high roller tournaments regularly to compete for POY.
High roller events, often played in Las Vegas at Aria Resort & Casino, have much smaller fields than other tournaments. These events, in 2016, were heavily weighted in the GPI scoring system. Some saw this as unfair since players can jump up the leaderboard by defeating a 50-player field.
The other side of the argument is the high roller tournaments attract the best players in the world. That means the competition is stiffer than a field with 500 players, many of which can, as Phil Hellmuth likes to say, “barely even spell poker.”
What Changes are Being Made?
Fedor Holz was edged out by David Peters in the final days of the year for 2016 GPI Player of the Year. That was after the German held the lead for most of the year despite playing in only a few tournaments after July.
Holz won millions, but he didn’t even play the poker circuit for half the year. But he jumped to the top of the standings due to winning big in the super high rollers such as the $111,111 buy-in WSOP One Drop High Roller. He won $4.9 million for first place.
That tournament had 183 entries, far fewer than most WSOP events. Due to the amount he won, Fedor got quite a bump in the POY standings. That’s about to change.
Effective immediately, the GPI will give as much credence to the field size as it does to the buy-in cost. Therefore, when a player wins a 50-player $50,000 buy-in high roller, the winner won’t receive as many points as in the past.
Last year, players received points for cashing in any tournament with 21 or more players. This year, points won’t be awarded unless there are at least 32 entries. Eric Danis, a Global Poker League commentator and head of content for the GPI, explained why the changes were made.
“With the ever-changing poker landscape, we recognized that a revamp was required, more than the standard adjustment we usually already make on a yearly basis. We listened to the players and are convinced that this is the way to go; the updated scoring process will see successful players at most buy-in levels rewarded in our rankings,” he said during a public announcement.
Peters Wins 2016 POY
After Holz led the 2016 POY standings for most of the year, David Peters edged him out in the final days. He did so thanks to a 3rd place finish in the EPT Eureka Main Event in mid-December and a 5th place finish in the $25,000 High Roller at the WPT Bellagio earlier in the month. Fedor’s last cash came in October.
