Global Poker Index: 20 Weeks on Top for Holz; EPT Malta Winners Gain Ground

October 27, 2016

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 Oct. 26, 2016.

2016 GPI Player of the Year

The start of the European Poker Tour Malta festival last week might have encouraged expectations of changes at the top of the 2016 Player of the Year rankings, but so far that has yet to be the case. The top 10 all stayed the same from the last update, with Fedor Holz having reached 20 straight weeks at No. 1.

Dietrich Fast very nearly made it onto this list thanks to his victory in the festival-opening EPT Malta €10,300 Single Re-Entry event. Fast topped a 60-entry field to earn a €174,600 first prize, and also earned enough GPI POY points to move up 10 spots to No. 11.

GPI 300 Top 10

The overall GPI rankings were similarly steady where Holz also enjoys a 20th-straight week at No. 1 since taking over the lead in early June. Three players — Steve O'Dwyer, Connor Drinan, and Anthony Zinno — each moved up a spot on this week's list after Byron Kaverman dropped from No. 4 to No. 7.

Welcome to the GPI Top 300

There were seven new names in this week's GPI top 300, most of whom entered the list near the bottom. The highest-ranked of the group is Rocco Palumbo who elevated from No. 347 to No. 220 after cashing a couple of times so far at EPT Malta, including finishing runner-up to Jakub Michalak in the €10,200 Single-Day High Roller.

Meanwhile Stevan Chew jumped all of the way up from No. 464 to No. 279 after winning the AU$10,000 buy-in Asia Pacific Poker Tour Melbourne No-Limit Hold'em Challenge. While all of the others on this list are returning to the top 300 after previous appearances, this marks Chew's top 300 debut.

Biggest Gains

Chew and Palumbo top this week's "Biggest Gains" list as well. Dylan Linde also made it after jumping from No. 297 to No. 197. Linde won the $1,675 buy-in World Series of Poker Circuit Hammond Main Event this week, besting a field of 1,308 for a big $348,269 first prize.

Ramin Hajiyev collected two nice finishes in Malta — a fifth in the EPT Malta €10,300 Single Re-Entry and a runner-up in the €25,750 High Roller won by [Removed:17] — and also collected enough points to move up into the overall top 40. And Oleksii Khoroshenin likewise has made a couple of final tables in Malta to help him make a significant upward move as well.

Biggest Drops

Finally, looking at the biggest downward moves among players still in the top 300, 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel dropped from No. 164 to No. 230 — his first time outside the top 200 since the rankings began in 2011.

What to Expect Next Week

Focus remains on Malta for another few days as the EPT Malta festival plays to its conclusion at the Portomaso Casino.

PokerNews remains on hand with live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and more from the festival's climactic two events — the €5,300 Main Event and €10,300 High Roller, both of which reach their conclusions this Saturday.

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.

• Tags

  Global Poker Index Fedor Holz Dietrich Fast Steve O’Dwyer Connor Drinan Anthony Zinno Byron Kaverman Rocco Palumbo Stevan Chew Ramin Hajiyev Jonathan Duhamel EPT Malta European Poker Tour

• Related Tournaments

  European Poker Tour

• Related Players

  Steve O'DwyerJonathan DuhamelByron KavermanConnor DrinanRocco PalumboAnthony Zinno