Global Poker Index: Top 10 Debut for EPT Dublin Winner Dzmitry Urbanovich
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 February 24, 2016.
GPI Player of the Year
With the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the Aussie Millions, the European Poker Tour Dublin festival, and a host of other tournament series already in the rearview mirror, early totals in the 2016 GPI Player of the Year race should be arriving soon. To compute the POY, the GPI uses a player’s best 13 results (in terms of GPI POY points earned) from January 1 to December 31. You can read more here about factors considered by the GPI when calculating scores for the GPI POY.
Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the newly updated overall GPI rankings, post-Dublin.
GPI 300 Top 10
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve O’Dwyer | 4340.45 | - |
| 2 | Byron Kaverman | 4218.48 | - |
| 3 | Jason Mercier | 4131.89 | - |
| 4 | Nick Petrangelo | 4084.95 | - |
| 5 | Dominik Nitsche | 3890.53 | +1 |
| 6 | Bryn Kenney | 3887.88 | +1 |
| 7 | Anthony Zinno | 3818.15 | -2 |
| 8 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | 3805.67 | +10 |
| 9 | Fedor Holz | 3804.44 | -1 |
| 10 | Stephen Chidwick | 3720.81 | - |
Most of those at the top of the GPI rankings were in action in Dublin with many notching cashes, but Steve O’Dwyer managed to hold off all of them to retain the No. 1 spot for a seventh-straight week. O’Dwyer picked up a couple of cashes in Dublin as well where he made final tables in two different side events, though neither earned him enough points to be added to his current total.
The most conspicuous change to the top 10 this week is the appearance of Dzmitry Urbanovich, winner of the EPT Dublin Main Event, who leaped from No. 18 to No. 8 on the strength of his victory.
The ranking marks the first time inside the top 10 for the Polish pro and EPT11 Player of the Year. Urbanovich has now managed to earn over $4.8 million in tournaments in just a little over two years — and all before his 21st birthday which will come in May (in time for the 2016 World Series of Poker).
Welcome to the GPI Top 300
| Rank | Player | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 188 | Sergey Lebedev | 1982.37 |
| 203 | Emil Patel | 1921.27 |
| 206 | Fabrice Soulier | 1902.52 |
| 208 | Alex Goulder | 1894.24 |
| 250 | Matias Ruzzi | 1776.20 |
| 257 | Keith Johnson | 1764.62 |
| 268 | Simeon Naydenov | 1734.26 |
| 269 | Thiago Nishijima | 1727.52 |
| 270 | Kacper Pyzara | 1726.45 |
| 272 | Luiz Antonio Duarte Ferreira Filho | 1724.77 |
| 273 | Jiachen Gong | 1722.34 |
| 274 | Pascal Hartmann | 1721.94 |
| 283 | Wael Sarkis | 1699.76 |
| 284 | Raiden Kan | 1698.36 |
| 285 | Benjamin Winsor | 1698.11 |
| 292 | Nikolaus Teichert | 1690.17 |
| 297 | Felipe Ramos | 1676.79 |
| 300 | Dermot Blain | 1674.01 |
Relative quiet at the top of the GPI top 300 this week is contrasted by a lot of movement at the other end of the leaderboard, with no less than 18 newcomers making the list. Nearly all of them earned their points by cashing in events at EPT Dublin.
The highest-ranked of this group of upward movers is Sergey Lebedev who picked up points in three different events at the Royal Dublish Society last week, including a 10th place in the €10,200 Single-Day High Roller won by Charlie Carrel and a third-place showing in the €10,300 High Roller won by Samuel Panzica.
It’s the highest-ever ranking for Lebedev in the GPI. He also moves into the top 10 among Russian players as the ninth highest-ranked of his fellow countrymen, a list currently topped by Alexander Denisov (ranked No. 38 in the GPI).
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 203 | Emil Patel | 1921.27 | +170 |
| 270 | Kacper Pyzara | 1726.45 | +145 |
| 188 | Sergey Lebedev | 1982.37 | +144 |
| 158 | Samuel Panzica | 2124.01 | +141 |
| 273 | Jiachen Gong | 1722.34 | +139 |
Lebedev’s ascension helped him be included among the “Biggest Gains” for the week among those in the GPI top 300. €10,300 High Roller winner Panzica likewise is on this list for a second straight week after going from No. 386 to No. 299 to No. 158 over the last 14 days.
Emil Patel moved up the most, however, going from No. 373 to No. 203 after finishing fourth in that same €10,300 High Roller event in Dublin.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 298 | Aleksandr Gofman | 1675.89 | -66 |
| 239 | Hossein Ensan | 1808.82 | -61 |
| 146 | Mario Lopez | 2162.65 | -54 |
| 210 | Frederik Jensen | 1889.95 | -51 |
| 277 | Matthias De Meulder | 1711.94 | -50 |
Meanwhile, among those slipping the furthest this week while remaining inside the top 300, Aleksandr Gofman suffered the steepest drop after going from No. 232 to No. 298.
What to Expect Next Week
The World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic continues onward with some of the festival’s bigger events playing out including the $10,000 buy-in WPT No-Limit Hold’em Championship event that gets started on Saturday.
The Mid-States Poker Tour stops in Florida with a new series starting today at the bestbet Jacksonville. And the WSOP Circuit has a new series getting underway today as well at Bally’s Las Vegas.
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.
