Global Poker Index: Seidel Maintains Lead

Erik Seidel

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. Erik Seidel is still on top this week as the top 10 remained mostly the same. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of January 30, 2012

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank from Last Week
1Erik Seidel3,069.840
2Jason Mercier2,986.070
3Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier2,839.230
4Eugene Katchalov2,760.520
5Shawn Buchanan2,672.490
6Sam Trickett2,436.220
7Will "The Thrill" Failla2,423.220
8Matt Waxman2,400.18+1
9Vanessa Selbst2,397.53-1
10Mike "Timex" McDonald2,377.53+1

Back in the top ten this week is Mike "Timex" McDonald, one week after making way for Jonathan Duhamel. Last January, Duhamel took first place in the €10,000 High-Roller event at the 2011 EPT Deauville. That score fell into Period 3, and as a result, Duhamel dropped six spots on the GPI.

Welcome to the GPI

Daniel Idema returns to the GPI with the best ranking of the 11 new players after his eighth-place result in the Aussie Millions Main Event.

New Additions

PlayerTotal GPI ScoreGPI Rank
Daniel Idema1,323.23158th
Daniel Chevalier1,304.80164th
Brian Hawkins1,122.06257th
Nacho Barbero1,113.64262nd
Taylor von Kriegenbergh1,105.10266th
Sebastian Winkler1,094.21273rd
Grant Levy1,093.92274th
Daniel Reijmer1,078.21288th
Connor Drinan1,076.66289th
Paul Berende1,053.79298th
Kevin Calenzo1,050.97300th

The 11 players who fell from the GPI this week were Cornel Cimpan, David Sonelin, Denys Drobyna, Jacob Bazeley, Lucien Cohen, Maria Ho, Martin Finger, Maurizio Sepede, Owais Ahmed, Sigurd Eskeland, and Stefan Huber.

In last week's article we mentioned that Phil Ivey could very well be returning to the GPI, because he was deep in the Main Event at the Aussie Millions. In addition to his eventual 12th-place finish, Ivey won the AUD$250,000 tournament for more than AUD$2,000,000. However, that win is not reflected in the GPI because the event only drew 16 players. To qualify for the GPI, a tournament must have at least 21 entrants. As a result, Ivey didn't crack the GPI quite yet.

Ups and Downs

The biggest rise of the week belonged to Jason Koon. With a 27th-place finish in the Aussie Millions Main Event, Koon added a third result for his Period 1 scores during January, going along with two cashes at the PCA.

Biggest Gains

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week
68thJason Koon1,663.88+121
82ndDavid Steicke1,610.00+43
91stFaraz Jaka1,569.10+54
112thMatt Stout1,479.75+72
127thMichael Tureniec1,424.61+93
151stDominykas Karmazinas1,344.84+44
162ndKhiem Nguyen1,316.74+100
165thJeff Lisandro1,297.85+64
182ndManuel Bevand1,261.49+87
186thAlain Roy1,248.77+94

Kenny Hallaert saw his GPI stock fall the most. His sixth-place finish in the 2011 EPT Deauville Main Event fell from Period 2 to Period 3.

Biggest Drops

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week
128thTristan Wade1,423.84-37
168thKristijonas Andrulis1,292.75-35
223rdMarco Leonzio1,178.74-40
226thCristiano Guerra1,174.08-46
227thJustin Smith1,173.91-35
246thLuca Pagano1,142.87-52
256thKenny Hallaert1,122.33-80
259thJeff Papola1,119.94-35
282ndDaniel Colman1,087.26-60
295thMike Beasley1,056.92-70

What's In Store?

EPT Deauville is in the midst of its Main Event, which concludes on Monday. While it probably won't be a part of next week's rankings, many side events will be and should result in some movement throughout the GPI.

To 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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