Global Poker Index: Jason Mercier and Paul Volpe Maintain Top Honors

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes a player's results over six half-year periods. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

GPI 300 Top 10 as of June 25, 2013

RankPlayerTotal ScoreRank Change
1Jason Mercier3227.24--
2Philipp Gruissem3143.52--
3Daniel Negreanu3097.26--
4Mike Watson3032.30--
5Steve O'Dwyer2992.34--
6Joseph Cheong2989.92--
7Marvin Rettenmaier2940.67--
8Paul Volpe2858.95+1
9Bertrand Grospellier2849.57-1
10David Sands2839.64--

There was very little change in the top 10 of the rankings this week. Jason Mercier maintained his No. 1 ranking, with Philip Gruissem, Daniel Negreanu, Michael Watson and Stephen O'Dwyer rounding out the top five.

The only change was Paul Volpe jumping one spot to No. 8, sending Bertrand Grospellier down one position to No. 9. Volpe has four cashes at the year's World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, and he may see another increase next week after finishing eighth in the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven Lowball event this week.

Welcome to the GPI

New Additions

PlayerTotal GPI ScoreGPI Rank
Lee Markholt1462.36164
Ashton Griffin1413.57194
Max Steinberg1378.60204
Max Lykov1294.52235
Daniel Neilson1290.11241
Steve Gross1276.49247
Nicolas Cardyn1268.62251
Jose Ignacio Barbero1267.41252
Andrew Robl1263.39254
Eric Froehlich1252.25261
Ryan Eriquezzo1249.51262
Anthony Gargano1233.09270
Jonathan Turner1228.67273
Tom Schneider1228.00275
Alexander Kuzmin1218.07280
Simeon Naydenov1203.97284
Manuel Bevand1191.58278
Xuan Liu1197.18292
WeiKai Chang1190.71295
Paul Lieu1186.83297
Allen Cunningham1181.55298

Lee Markholt entered the GPI this week after a runner-up finish in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (Six-Handed) event at the World Series of Poker. Also finding success at the WSOP were Tom Schneider and Steve Gross, both of whom captured bracelets and a spot back in the GPI 300.

Biggest Gains

RankPlayerTotal GPI ScoreChange
64Yevgeniy Timoshenko2017.47+35
89Jesse Martin1850.91+69
92Jeff Madsen1836.41+43
93Salman Behbehani1828.91+43
96Erick Lindgren1620.69+42
110Greg Mueller1734.83+107
128Trevor Pope1828.91+121
134Jonathan Little1519.82+114
151Vojtech Ruzicka1518.20+57
204Amir Lehavot1387.76+88

Erick Lindgren, Jesse Martin and Jeff Madsen each won WSOP bracelets this week, and Greg Mueller continued his climb up the ranks by taking third in a WSOP event for the second time of the series. After a fifth-place finish in the $3,000 Mixed-Max event earlier in the series, Yevgeniy Timoshenko bubbled the final table of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Handed Event late last week.

Biggest Drops

RankPlayerTotal GPI ScoreChange
138Jeff Lisandro1555.93-43
187Oleksii Kovalchuk1428.68-45
192Tommy Vedes1420.06-53
193Phil Ivey1416.74-56
214Alexander Kravchenko1361.50-55
257Ilan Boujenah1256.29-50
265Kenny Hallaert1248.41-70

Phil Ivey has struggled at this year's WSOP and the points from his five final tables at last year's summer classic have dropped into Period 3, resulting in a noticeable drop in the GPI this week. If you're playing the GPI's Fantasy Poker Manager, you may have noticed a significant drop in Ivey's salary. Snatch him up while the price is right!

To view at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website. While you're at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.

2013 GPI Player of the Year

Paul Volpe held on to the No. 1 spot on the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings this week. He added some points to his total by bubbling the final table of the $10,000 2-7 Lowball event of the World Series of Poker. He received $22,399 for an eighth-place finish – the highest of his WSOP career, and his fourth cash of the summer.

The rest of the top ten also remained unchanged as Steven Silverman sat in No. 2 and Ole Schemion stayed at No. 3.

RankPlayerScoreChange
1Paul Volpe760.78--
2Steven Silverman670.00--
3Ole Schemion651.74--
4Daniel Negreanu644.29--
5Igor Kurganov617.18--
6Michael Watson579.06--
7Scott Seiver569.77--
8Daniel Shak568.56--
9Stephen O'Dwyer559.25--
10David Peters553.58--

Erick Lindgren made one of the biggest jumps in the POY race, moving up 31 spots to No. 15. His recent jolt is largely contributed by a $606,317 payday from winning the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event of the WSOP just over a week ago. It was Lindgren’s second career WSOP bracelet and fifth cash of the summer. Just a few days earlier, Lindgren finished in 45th place in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Mixed Max event.

Also making a jump this week was Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki, who recently made two final tables in the WSOP. His first came earlier this month when he busted in eighth place of the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout tournament to collect over $30,000. Not too long after, he secured a spot on the $5,000 H.O.R.S.E. final table. He completed his run in fifth place, adding $70,093 to his moneybag.

Calvin Anderson (No. 32) dropped nine spots despite running deep in the $10,000 2-7 Lowball tournament of the WSOP. Anderson was the chip leader going into Day 2 but couldn’t hold on after getting involved in three-way action with Jeff Lisandro and Layne Flack. Anderson hit the rail in 11th place, earning $19,283.

Jason Mercier continues to swing up and down on the POY rankings. After climbing eight spots to No. 13 last week he dropped one spot to No. 12. His most recent cash was 36th in the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo tournament collecting a mere $3,743.

David Peters continues to perform well at the WSOP and on the POY scale. After catapulting 151 spots a few weeks ago, he’s managed to remain tenth in the rankings. He took 132nd in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo event for a modest $2,111, and a few days later he finished 68th in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout for $5,556.

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