Global Poker Index: David Peters Earns 2016 GPI Player of the Year

David Peters

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.

Down below find the overall rankings as of January 4, but first let’s review the final results of the 2016 Global Poker Index Player of the Year.

2016 GPI Player of the Year

RankPlayerGPI Score
1David Peters3666.31
2Fedor Holz3644.80
3Justin Bonomo3479.70
4Chance Kornuth3336.54
5Adrian Mateos3316.07
6Ari Engel3290.43
7Paul Volpe3192.88
8Nick Petrangelo3176.03
9Ankush Mandavia3138.97
10Samuel Panzica3114.66
11Charlie Carrel3088.76
12Bryn Kenney3002.78
13Ivan Luca2992.47
14Jason Mercier2983.71
15Jack Salter2941.18
16Jason Koon2927.38
17[Removed:17]2927.22
18Connor Drinan2926.70
19Dietrich Fast2907.40
20Rainer Kempe2905.88

Thanks to a late push highlighted by a third-place showing in the European Poker Tour Prague Main Event, David Peters finished the year atop the Global Poker Index Player of the Year rankings, having barely eclipsed Fedor Holz at the finish after Holz had held the lead for more than six months.

Peters bests a previous No. 5 finish in the 2013 GPI POY race to join an exclusive group of GPI Players of the Year that includes Byron Kaverman (2015), Dan Colman (2014), Ole Schemion (2013), and Dan Smith (2012).

While Holz’s lengthy heater garnered him many headlines throughout 2016, Peters steadily collected more than two dozen cashes including numerous high roller scores on his way to earning more than $7.5 million in live tournament cashes.

The GPI has also announced numerous other player-of-the-year honors based on performances during the calendar year:

TitlePlayer
2016 GPI European Player of the YearFedor Holz
2016 GPI Female Player of the YearCate Hall
2016 GPI Female European Player of the YearLiv Boeree
2016 GPI Latin American Player of the YearIvan Luca
2016 GPI Asia/Pacific Player of the Year[Removed:17]
2016 GPI Great China Player of the YearYang Zhang

According to the GPI, this marks the second year in a row Holz has earned GPI European Player of the Year, and the fifth year in a row a German has taken the honor with Marvin Rettenmaier doing so in 2012 and Ole Schemion in both 2013 and 2014. It’s also the third year running that Liv Boeree has claimed GPI Female European Player of the Year.

GPI 300 Top 10

RankPlayerGPI ScoreChange
1Fedor Holz4730.90-
2David Peters4502.58-
3Dan Smith4314.81-
4Nick Petrangelo4295.23-
5Tom Marchese4186.53+1
6Steve O'Dwyer4092.96-1
7Jake Schindler4045.07+1
8Adrian Mateos4011.71+1
9Erik Seidel3879.64+2
10Bryn Kenney3853.60+11

Holz unsurprisingly starts the new year on top of the overall GPI rankings, making it 30 weeks in a row at No. 1 for him and extending his record for the longest-ever stint on top of the rankings.

Most of the top 10 remained the same, with Bryn Kenney making a big move from No. 21 to No. 10 this week after placing fourth in one of those end-of-year $25,000 ARIA High Roller events.

Welcome to the GPI Top 300

RankPlayerTotal Score
260Zvi Stern1949.89
268Andrew Hulme1939.43
273Eugene Katchalov1922.14
274Eddy Sabat1920.03
275Christian Christner1916.05
285Kacper Pyzara1880.84
289Ognyan Dimov1878.14
291Lucas Blanco1875.64
292Amos Ben1874.41
293Mikita Badziakouski1873.39
294Brendon Rubie1873.18
295Salman Behbehani1872.19
298Alex Goulder1868.40
299Brandon Steven1868.26
300Michael Dentale1867.58

There were 15 new names in this week’s GPI top 300, all coming in to claim spots in the lower sixth of the list. 2015 November Niner Zvi Stern is the highest-ranked of the group after moving up from No. 309 to No. 260.

Biggest Gains

RankPlayerTotal GPI ScoreChange
119Rafael Moraes2391.80+133
268Andrew Hulme1939.43+96
273Eugene Katchalov1922.14+71
140Patrick Leonard2301.86+65
275Christian Christner1916.05+64

Looking at players in the top 300 who made the biggest upward moves over the last seven days, Rafael Moraes jumped the most after going from No. 252 all of the way to No. 119.

Biggest Drops

RankPlayerTotal GPI ScoreChange
227Adrien Allain2043.29-99
206Nick Yunis2104.87-90
181Anthony Gregg2171.14-73
248Daniel Negreanu1973.67-70
276Bill Klein1915.56-66

Finally, looking only at players inside the current top 300, Adrien Allain suffered the steepest fall over the last week after dipping from No. 128 to No. 227.

Daniel Negreanu also took a tumble from No. 178 to No. 248, his first time outside the GPI top 200 since the rankings began back in 2011. In fact, Negreanu only slipped out of the top 100 for the first time in mid-December. His highest GPI ranking has been No. 1, achieved most recently in April 2014.

What to Expect Next Week

The poker world’s attention turns to the Bahamas this week with the start of the PokerStars Championship Bahamas festival getting underway on Friday.

As always, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand to cover numerous events from the Atlantis Resort & Casino, including the $100,000 Super High Roller, the $50,000 Single-Day High Roller, the $25,000 High Roller, the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, and the $5,300 Main Event.

Meanwhile the 2017 Aussie Millions Poker Championship again helps kick off the new year for tournament poker players, with its first events happening next Wednesday, January 11.

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.

Sharelines
  • It's official! The 2016 @GPI Player of the Year is David Peters, winner of over $7.5M during year.

  • David Peters inches ahead of Fedor Holz at the finish line to win 2016 @GPI Player of the Year.

More Stories

Other Stories

Recommended for you

Looking Back at the Biggest PokerStars Winners in the Bahamas Looking Back at the Biggest PokerStars Winners in the Bahamas