Global Poker Index: Raymer, Clements & Clark Join the List

Global Poker Index

Another week in the books means it is time for the new Global Poker Index rankings. Since being introduced by Federated Sports & Gaming (FS+G) a few weeks ago, the GPI attempts to answer the question: “Who are the best live tournament poker players in the world today?” Each week the GPI releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world. Here's a look at the movers and shakers for the week ending Aug. 2, 2011.

Here's a look at this week's GPI top ten. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of August 1, 2011

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week
1Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier2,473.134-
2Erik Seidel2,457.3611
3Jason Mercier2,434.301-1
4Eugene Katchalov2,248.8260
5Fabrice Soulier2,193.5891
6Samuel Stein2,168.853-1
7Sorel Mizzi2,115.1220
8Tom Marchese2,035.6640
9David “Bakes” Baker2,027.3150
10John Juanda2,013.6280

Minimal Changes to the Top Ten

For the third week in a row, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier sits atop the GPI. While there were no new additions to the top 10, there were a few shake-ups. Erik Seidel managed to move up a spot to No. 2, barely edging out Jason Mercier, while Fabrice Soulier leapfrogged Sam Stein to take over fifth place.

Meanwhile, there was some movement just outside the top ten where Vanessa Selbst’s gradual slide continued as she dropped to 13th place. Both Daniel Negreanu and David Peters jumped a spot, coming in 11th and 12th respectively.

Welcome to the GPI

The GPI welcomed six new players to the rankings this week, most notably 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Greg Raymer and consummate tournament grinder Scott Clements. The latter barely cracked the list in 299th place, while the former debuted a few spots higher in 293rd. It was surprising to learn that these two players had previously been absent on the list, but now that they're on, we don’t expect them to go anywhere but up.

Consequently, a few notables fell off the GPI including James Bord, Yuval Bronshtein, Andrew Pantling, and Alan Sternberg.

New Additions

PlayerTotal GPI ScoreGPI Rank
Kenneth Hicks1,036.367291st
Greg Raymer1,035.256293rd
Francesco De Vivo1,033.708294th
Zachary Clark1,032.556296th
Joao Barbosa1,030.003297th
Scott Clements1,027.01299th

Ups and Downs

The biggest mover of the week was Steve O’Dwyer who jumped 132 spots from 261st to 129th. How does one ascend the GPI so quickly? All you need is a deep run in the WSOP Main Event (626th for $19,359) and a victory in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Event at the Bellagio Cup VII for $259,452.

Former World Champs Jonathan Duhamel and Joe Hachem both moved up over 30 spots and cracked the top 100 and gains from Andrey Zaichenko (+55) and Shaun Deeb (+58) put them hot on their heels. While there were a lot of players who improved their positions this week, there were only ten notable movers.

Biggest Gains

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week
73rdJonathan Duhamel1,525.819+35
83rdJoe Hachem1,489.691+33
111thAndrey Zaichenko1,392.177+55
116thShaun Deeb1,368.013+58
129thStephen O’Dwyer1,334.476+132
164thDavidi Kitai1,271.338+64
183rdJeffrey Papola1,217.907+49
187thAntony Lellouche1,210.715+72
194thBenjamin Pollak1,201.045+73
233rdLucien Cohen1,144.412+31

The unfortunate corollary of players moving up are players falling fast. No one felt this effect more than Tyler Smith who dropped 104 spots to 300th, barely clinging to the GPI. While Smith had a pair of cashes this summer at the WSOP, his victories in the 2010 Gold Strike World Poker Open Main Event in Tunica (July 31, 2010, for $152,529) and 2010 Winter Bayou Poker Challenge Main Event in New Orleans (December 10, 2010, for $66,488) have become dated and fallen into lower-multiplied periods. If Smith hopes to hold a spot on the GPI, he’ll need some more tournament scores soon. The same can be said for Cornel Cimpan and John O’Shea, who both dropped nearly 100 spots this week.

Biggest Drops

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week
118thThomas Bichon1,364.461-38
148thKristijonas Andrulis1,299.572-33
179thShander De-Vries1,224.759-48
201stLudovic Lacay1,187.85-28
243rdCornel Cimpan1,128.754-90
280thJohn O’Shea1,052.88-96
300thTyler Smith1,025.947-104

What's In Store?

As fall approaches, the tournament poker schedule ramps up and will surely shake up the GPI. The 2011 Legends of Poker, European Poker Tour Tallinn, Latin American Poker Tour Uruguay, and EPT Barcelona will all take place this month, and as Michael Craig pointed out in his weekly write up, this will likely result in some European players making moves in the GPI. Likewise, the Epic Poker League, WSOP Europe, and 2011 Festa al Lago Classic are right around the corner and will surely wreak havoc on the GPI.

As a reminder, for a look 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.

To stay on top of the GPI and other happenings in the poker world, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

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