ESPN "2005 Toyota WSOP Player of the Year" race

ESPN has announced the points system for the "2005 Toyota WSOP Player of the Year" award, and we have an updated top 20 through nine events of the WSOP.

Points are awarded to each player who finishes in the money in the following events:

1. The 5 $10,000 buy-in WSOP Circuit Events in Atlantic City, Rincon Indian Reservation in California, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and New Orleans.
2. Each open WSOP preliminary bracelet event.
3. The WSOP World Championship Main Event

No points are awarded in the following events:

1. Casino Employees event
2. Ladies event
3. Seniors' event
4. "Second chance" events held simultaneously with the main event: Events 43, 44, and 45

Points are awarded based on how high a player finishes in the money as well as the size of the field for each event.

To determine the number of points a player earns for finishing in the money, multiply the number of points awarded for each place by the multiplier for the size of the field.

For example, a player who finishes 2nd in a tournament with 1100 players will earn 80 x 2.0 = 160 points.

The tables with the information to see how the points are figured are below, and through the first nine events of the WSOP, the top 20 are.

C. Violette 263 points
A. Cunningham 248
S. Fischman 233
H. Demetriou 225
J. Steinhorn 218
E. Seidel 210
E. Froehlick 200
T. Werthmann 200
J. Harman 197
C. Ferguson 189
M. Gracz 180
T. Ma 170
C.K. Hua 168
A. Esfandiari 167
D. Evilfish 161
L. Flack 160
P. Poels 160
M. Green 158
D. Pham 158
P. Ivey 152

Points calculation system -

Place Points
1 100
2 80
3 70
4 60
5 55
6 50
7 45
8 40
9 35
In the money - Top quarter 25
In the money - 2nd quarter 20
In the money - 3rd quarter 15
In the money - 4th quarter 10

Size of Field Multiplier
0-99 1.0
100-199 1.1
200-299 1.2
300-399 1.3
400-499 1.4
500-599 1.5
600-699 1.6
700-799 1.7
800-899 1.8
900-999 1.9
1000-1249 2.0
1250-1499 2.1
1500-1999 2.2
2000-2499 2.3
2500-2599 2.4
3000-3499 2.5
3500-3999 2.6
4000-4499 2.7
4500-4999 2.8
5000-5499 2.9
5500 and over 3.0

Ed Note: Paradise Poker is gearing up for their Masters III event, with a prizepool of over one million dollars.