Global Poker Index: Kenney Early POY Leader; Petrangelo Tops Overall

January 26, 2017

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 January 25.

2017 GPI Player of the Year

Bryn Kenney remains the early frontrunner in the 2017 Global Poker Index Player of the Yer Race thanks to several strong performances at the PokerStars Championship Bahamas series, including a victory in the $50,000 Single-Day High Roller and another in the $25,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shot Clock event.

Mustapha Kanit did well in the Bahamas, too, with multiple deep runs, and this week he added a seventh-place finish in the 2017 Aussie Millions $25,000 Challenge event to add more points and move up a notch to No. 2 in the POY rankings. Incidentally, Kanit ended Day 3 of the Aussie Millions Main Event as the chip leader (by a lot) with 36 players remaining, so we might well see the Italian topping the POY list a week from now.

The rest of the top 10 remained fairly steady with two exceptions. William Foxen made a big leap to join the list at No. 6 after picking up a couple of cashes at the WPTDeepstacks Lucky Hearts Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. And James Chen made an even more dramatic move upward after not only winning that aforementioned Aussie Millions $25,000 Challenge, but also winning a H.O.R.S.E. side event in Melbourne.

GPI 300 Top 10

The overall GPI rankings held steady since the last weekly update, with Nick Petrangelo enjoying a second week in the top spot. The only movement in the top 10 involved No. 5 Jack Salter and No. 6 Ari Engel switching positions.

Looking down the overall rankings a bit, Mukul Pahuja moved up from No. 53 to No. 32 this week after winning a $2,500 event in the recent WPTDeepstacks Lucky Hearts Poker Open.

Welcome to the GPI Top 300

Nine players moved up and into the GPI top 300 this week, with Carl Carodenuto coming in the highest at No. 262, having moved up from No. 349 after cashing in the WPTDeepstacks Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event.

Biggest Gains

That pair of wins in Australia for James Chen mentioned above also translated into a big upward move in the overall rankings for the player from Taiwan — all of the way from No. 711 to No. 287, marking his first time ever in the GPI top 300.

Biggest Drops

Finally, only looking at players who kept spots inside the top 300, Tony Dunst tumbled the most from No. 187 to No. 285.

What to Expect Next Week

Results from the 2017 Aussie Millions Poker Championship will continue to have an impact on the GPI rankings before the next update. Stick close here at PokerNews for continuing coverage of several events from Down Under.

Also over in the Live Reporting section find ongoing updates from the 888Live Rozvadov Festival as well as from the PokerStars Festival London.

To view the 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.

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  Global Poker Index Bryn Kenney Mustapha Kanit Nick Petrangelo David Peters Carl Carodenuto James Chen Aussie Millions PokerStars Championship Bahamas WPTDeepstacks

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  Bryn KenneyDavid PetersMustapha KanitNick PetrangeloCarl CarodenutoJames Chen