Global Poker Index: Ari Engel Pushes Up Rankings Amid Quiet Week
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 May 17.
2017 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryn Kenney | 2840.97 | - |
| 2 | Ari Engel | 2478.79 | +4 |
| 3 | Sergio Aido | 2463.57 | -1 |
| 4 | Daniel Dvoress | 2430.71 | -1 |
| 5 | Nick Petrangelo | 2392.76 | -1 |
| 6 | Manig Loeser | 2262.69 | - |
| 7 | Koray Aldemir | 2176.14 | - |
| 8 | Mustapha Kanit | 2109.57 | - |
| 9 | Byron Kaverman | 2108.44 | - |
| 10 | Steve O'Dwyer | 1938.12 | - |
There's really just one change to report regarding the latest Top 10 in the 2017 Global Poker Index Player of the Year Race.
All 10 players remain the same since the last update, with Bryn Kenney still leading for a 15th week in a row. Only Ari Engel has disturbed players' positions after moving up from No. 6 to No. 2. Engel's most recent big tournament score came in the partypoker MILLIONS North America Main Event in Montreal where he finished fifth of 1,168 entries in the event won by Jean-Pascal Savard.
Looking down the POY list a little, Dylan Wilkerson moved up from No. 25 to No. 14 this week after cashing in that same partypoker MILLIONS event then adding another small score in the latest Parx Casino Big Stax series. Another casher in Montreal, 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Ryan Riess, has cracked the POY Top 20 as well, going from No. 29 to No. 17.
GPI 300 Top 10
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Petrangelo | 3525.80 | - |
| 2 | Fedor Holz | 3450.90 | +1 |
| 3 | David Peters | 3431.82 | -1 |
| 4 | Bryn Kenney | 3362.37 | - |
| 5 | Justin Bonomo | 3314.73 | - |
| 6 | Ari Engel | 3230.29 | +5 |
| 7 | Jason Mercier | 3218.68 | -1 |
| 8 | Adrian Mateos | 3147.51 | -1 |
| 9 | Steve O'Dwyer | 3116.71 | -1 |
| 10 | Jason Koon | 3090.34 | - |
The GPI overall rankings also remained mostly steady since last week, with Engel again the main disrupter of things after jumping from No. 11 to No. 6 to join the Top 10.
Nick Petrangelo remains the top-ranked tournament player in the world again for a seventh week running, with Fedor Holz (No. 2) and David Peters (No. 3) swapping spots just below.
Welcome to the GPI Top 300
| Rank | Player | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 198 | Jean-Pascal Savard | 1890.12 |
| 220 | Tim West | 1852.83 |
| 288 | Elliot Smith | 1737.32 |
| 292 | Kane Kalas | 1732.80 |
| 293 | Daniel Stern | 1732.54 |
After a relatively high amount of turnover week-to-week over the last couple of months, just five new players joined this week's GPI overall rankings with Jean-Pascal Savard the highest-ranked of the group after making a big move up from No. 547 to No. 198.
As noted above, Savard won that partypoker MILLIONS North America Main Event, earning a first prize of C$956,050 or nearly $700K USD. Savard nearly matches his previous career-high ranking of No. 195 from June 2016.
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 198 | Jean-Pascal Savard | 1890.12 | +349 |
| 161 | Enzo Del Piero | 1987.20 | +126 |
| 292 | Kane Kalas | 1732.80 | +122 |
| 288 | Elliot Smith | 1737.32 | +106 |
| 137 | Rob Wazwaz | 2058.09 | +198 |
Savard was the biggest gainer of anyone in the GPI Top 300 this week. Next on the list, Enzo Del Piero went from No. 287 to No. 161 after a runner-up finish in the World Poker Tour Amsterdam 2017 High Roller last week.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 286 | Artem Metalidi | 1745.61 | -87 |
| 154 | Ryan D'Angelo | 2007.50 | -52 |
| 299 | Dimitar Danchev | 1727.46 | -50 |
| 178 | Andjelko Andrejevic | 1943.37 | -45 |
| 287 | Raiden Kan Yew Fatt | 1744.94 | -41 |
And looking only at players still in the GPI Top 300, Artem Metalidi slipped the furthest this week after going from No. 199 to No. 286.
What to Expect Next Week
There's a lot happening this week — just ask the PokerNews live reporting team who will be all over the globe reporting on no less than seven different events during the upcoming days.
Besides the 2017 Cash Game Festival Gibraltar and the ongoing 888poker XK Inferno series (neither of which will affect the GPI rankings), PokerNews is currently on hand with live updates, chip counts, photos and more from the Winamax SISMIX Main Event as well as the 888Live Poker Festival Barcelona.
Meanwhile tomorrow begins the Poker King Cup Macau where PokerNews will deliver reports on the Main Event and High Roller. Then on Sunday the PokerStars Festival Chile series starts, where we'll also be providing coverage of both the Main Event and High Roller.
And finally, next Tuesday begins our coverage of the much anticipated PokerStars Championship Sochi series in Russia, where the team will be reporting on multiple events.
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.
