Global Poker Index: Ole Schemion No. 1 Record 18th-Straight Week, Ryan Riess Biggest Gainer

April 23, 2015

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player’s results over six half-year periods. The GPI also ranks the top performers of the year over two six-month periods as calculated by the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.

2015 GPI Player of the Year

It was another relatively quiet week atop the 2015 Global Poker Index Player of the Year leaderboard with a bit of shuffling below Dzmitry Urbanovich who sits in the No. 1 position for a fifth straight week.

Ivan Luca managed to move up a couple of spots from No. 4 to No. 2 this week, having added points after winning the £3,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour’s recent stop at the Dusk Till Dawn club in Nottingham.

Anthony Zinno also has returned to the 2015 POY Top 10 this week, jumping from No. 18 to No. 9 following his runner-up finish in a $2,200 NLHE Six-Max. event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Zinno has been as high as No. 4 so far this year in the 2015 POY rankings.

GPI 300 Top 10

He’s done it! Ole Schemion remained the top-ranked tournament player in the world for another week, meaning he’s held onto the first position in the overall GPI rankings for 18 straight weeks, thus establishing a new mark for the longest tenure on top. The 22-year-old German bests the previous record of 17 weeks at No. 1 shared by Jason Mercier who was first from May to September 2012 and Dan Smith who had been No. 1 from August to December 2014 until Schemion took over the lead.

Meanwhile Byron Kaverman moved up from No. 9 to No. 5 this week, just a couple of notches below his highest career ranking of No. 3 back in May 2014. Kaverman earned some POY points from one of those back-to-back $25,000 Aria High Roller events he recently won, as the first had 34 entries (enough to earn points) while the second had 16.

Welcome to the GPI Top 300

Eleven players moved up this week to find spots inside the GPI Top 300, with Ben Vinson the highest-ranked among them after elevating from No. 313 to No. 235 upon picking up a cash in a side event in the UKIPT Nottingham series.

2013 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Ryan Riess is back in the Top 300 this week as well after making a big move from No. 473 all the way to No. 283. Riess won that $2,200 NLHE event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown mentioned above in which Anthony Zinno took second, earning $63,891 for topping a field of 125 and enjoying his first tournament victory since the 2013 WSOP ME.

Biggest Gains

That big jump earned Riess the distinction as the week’s biggest gainer among those in the Top 300, with Chino Rheem having made the second-biggest advance. Rheem went from No. 404 to No. 278 after finishing runner-up to Rachel Kranz in a $1,650 NLHE event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown this week.

Ivan Luca is also continuing his charge up the overall GPI rankings thanks to his hot start in 2015, moving from No. 226 to No. 170 this week — his highest career ranking to date.

Biggest Drops

Finally looking at those inside the Top 300, Justin Young fell the furthest after going from No. 162 to No. 223 this week. Others in last week’s list fell further, though, such as Tom Dobrilovic who went from No. 286 to No. 393.

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.

• Tags

  Global Poker Index Dzmitry Urbanovich Ivan Luca Anthony Zinno Ole Schemion Scott Seiver Davidi Kitai Ben Vinson Ryan Riess David Rheem Justin Young

• Related Players

  Davidi KitaiScott SeiverJustin YoungBen VinsonOle SchemionRyan Riess