Global Poker Index: Volpe, MacPhee Join Overall Top 10; Kaverman Still King
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. Here’s a look at the rankings as of December 2, 2015.
2015 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Byron Kaverman | 4736.90 | - |
| 2 | Anthony Zinno | 4649.07 | - |
| 3 | Nicholas Petrangelo | 4406.04 | - |
| 4 | Steve O’Dwyer | 4333.58 | - |
| 5 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | 4095.19 | - |
| 6 | Jason Mercier | 4076.07 | - |
| 7 | Connor Drinan | 3996.08 | - |
| 8 | Dominik Nitsche | 3848.66 | - |
| 9 | Fedor Holz | 3834.30 | - |
| 10 | Scott Seiver | 3834.10 | - |
It was another quiet week atop the 2015 Global Poker Index Player of the Year leaderboard with Byron Kaverman holding onto his lead for a fifth-straight week as the end of the year draws closer.
Indeed, there wasn’t a lot of movement among the entire top 100 of the GPI Player of the Year list over the last seven days. Down at the bottom of the list, 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe McKeehen entered the POY top 100, moving up from No. 137 to No. 97 after picking up points from a 15th-place finish in the 2015 Borgata Fall Poker Open won by Mike Dentale.
GPI 300 Top 10
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Byron Kaverman | 4448.65 | - |
| 2 | Jason Mercier | 4235.76 | - |
| 3 | Anthony Zinno | 4029.10 | - |
| 4 | Dan Smith | 3838.24 | +3 |
| 5 | Steve O’Dwyer | 3811.83 | +1 |
| 6 | Paul Volpe | 3739.73 | +9 |
| 7 | Nicholas Petrangelo | 3731.76 | -3 |
| 8 | Bryn Kenney | 3711.62 | -3 |
| 9 | Martin Finger | 3685.07 | -1 |
| 10 | Kevin MacPhee | 3651.19 | +7 |
The overall GPI rankings saw no change among the top three spots, with Kaverman at No. 1 for a 10th-straight week followed again by Jason Mercier at No. 2 and Anthony Zinno at No. 3.
Two players jumped up into the top 10 this week, Paul Volpe (who went from No. 15 to No. 6) and 2015 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Kevin MacPhee (who went from No. 17 to No. 10).
Welcome to the GPI Top 300
| Rank | Player | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 229 | Vineet Pahuja | 1849.52 |
| 242 | Andrey Pateychuk | 1818.28 |
| 246 | Kyle Bowker | 1807.03 |
| 252 | Matt Salsberg | 1796.21 |
| 258 | David Nicholson | 1787.78 |
| 266 | Eric Baldwin | 1775.03 |
| 270 | Jesse Sylvia | 1766.55 |
| 273 | Roman Valerstein | 1764.96 |
| 278 | Diego Cardoso | 1756.11 |
| 280 | Antonio Esfandiari | 1754.66 |
| 289 | Je Wook Oh | 1741.22 |
| 292 | Chris Tryba | 1736.89 |
| 300 | Timur Margolin | 1717.10 |
No less than 13 players moved up into the overall GPI top 300 this week. Vineet Pahuja is the highest-ranked of the group, going from No. 305 to No. 229 after cashing in that aforementioned Borgata Fall Poker Open.
Of this group two players are making their debuts inside the GPI top 300. David Nicholson cashed in an event at the WSOP Circuit Planet Hollywood stop in Las Vegas to move up from No. 325 to No. 258, his first time in the list. And Je Wook Oh also made it into the top 300 after winning a side event at the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open last week to move up from No. 319 to No. 289.
Meanwhile among those returning to the top 300 are Antonio Esfandiari (who went from No. 314 to No. 280) and Matt Salsberg (who went from No. 312 to No. 252). Esfandiari’s highest previous GPI ranking was No. 14 in June 2013, while Salberg has ranked as high as No. 26 before in May 2013.
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 292 | Chris Tryba | 1736.89 | +103 |
| 273 | Roman Valerstein | 1764.96 | +90 |
| 246 | Kyle Bowker | 1807.03 | +86 |
| 229 | Vineet Pahuja | 1849.52 | +76 |
| 242 | Andrey Pateychuk | 1818.28 | +71 |
Looking among the top 300, Chris Tryba made the biggest move upwards after ascending from No. 395 to No. 292. A fifth-place finish in the Borgata Fall Poker Open event gave Tryba the points to make that upward move.
Incidentally, as anticipated in last week’s update, Michael Dentale who won that Borgata Fall Open event again jumped up in the rankings, his move from No. 231 to No. 161 placing him just outside this list of the week’s top five biggest gainers.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 160 | Chris Bolek | 2088.43 | -53 |
| 287 | Robert Mizrachi | 1743.15 | -49 |
| 206 | Joe Ebanks | 1910.53 | -48 |
| 202 | Calvin Anderson | 1930.02 | -42 |
| 214 | Jussi Nevanilinna | 1887.21 | -31 |
Finally, among those dropping the most yet staying inside the top 300, Chris Bolek slipped the most, going from No. 107 to No. 160.
What to Expect Next Week
The World Poker Tour Prague Festival is now well underway, with live updates from the Main Event right here on PokerNews. That will be soon followed by the European Poker Tour Prague festival which kicks off with the Eureka Main Event starting Saturday, with the week-long EPT12 Prague Main Event getting underway on Sunday. PokerNews’ live update team will be on hand there as well.
Meanwhile the WSOP Circuit Cherokee series comes to a close on Monday, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino kicks off their Winter Poker Open festival, and the Mid-States Poker Tour visits the Canterbury Park Club in Minnesota starting tomorrow.
To view both the 2015 Player of the Year and 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.
