2018 WSOP Player of the Year: Deeb Can Catch Hennigan With Main Event Run

July 10, 2018

With the 2018 World Series of Poker schedule finally starting to slow down as it enters its final week, the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year race has settled down somewhat with John Hennigan retaining his lead over nearest challenger Shaun Deeb as neither player has cashed over the last seven days.

Here's a look at how the 2018 WSOP POY Top 10 appears of this morning, Tuesday, July 10:

Hennigan grabbed the lead a couple of weeks ago thanks to a WSOP that has included nine cashes, four final tables (plus one final table bubble), and a victory in Event #27: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E..

Deeb meanwhile has 12 cashes, highlighted by his win in Event #42: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed High Roller. That’s currently two behind the 14 collected by 2017 WSOP Player of the Year Chris Ferguson, the most of anyone so far this summer.

It should also be noted that Deeb is the only player in the current POY Top 10 still alive in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em MAIN EVENT where 109 players will be returning for today’s Day 6. Deeb has already locked up 343 POY points for getting this far, which will put him at 3,112.11 total — still about 18 pts. behind Hennigan. However, if Deeb can make it to the final nine, he’ll surpass Hennigan to move into first place.

Also worth keeping in mind — the WSOP POY race does not end in Las Vegas, as 2018 World Series of Poker Europe events later this year will also count (see below).

Event #40: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet winner Scott Bohlman was 10th on this list a week ago, but has moved all the way up to third after adding a runner-up finish in Event #64: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship won by Dan Matsuzuki.

Bohlman could himself surpass both Hennigan and Deeb in the final week. Last night, Bohlman ended Day 2 of Event #69: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed as the chip leader. If Bohlman were to win Event #69, that would give him enough points to move ahead of Hennigan, although Hennigan could also add more points to his total in the final events of the summer.

The rest of the Top 10 is largely the same from a week ago with only some minor shuffling. Ben Yu, who has 12 cashes including a second (to Deeb in the $25K PLO High Roller) and a third this summer, moved up onto the list after ending his deep run in the Main Event last night in 150th place.

Sitting just outside the current Top 10 at the moment are Justin Liberto (11th), Anthony Zinno (12th), Ismael Bojang (13th), Michael Mizrachi (14th), and Daniel Ospina (15th).

About the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year

As noted above, the 2018 WSOP POY race includes events from this summer's WSOP in Las Vegas as well as from the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe series in Rozvadov, Czech Republic later this year (Oct. 11-Nov. 2). Finishes in 72 of the 78 bracelet events at the 2018 WSOP will count toward the POY, with the following six events excluded:

• Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em
• Event #32: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em
• Event #36: Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em
• Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em
• Event #57: $1,000/$10,000 Ladies Event
• Event #78: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop

While we’re looking in on the race once each week here at PokerNews, you can additionally visit the WSOP Player of the Year page for the latest standings. Also located there is a "Point Calculator" with which you can determine how points from remaining events will be awarded according to the number of entries.

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  WSOP John Hennigan Shaun Deeb Scott Bohlman Eric Baldwin Mike Leah Paul Volpe Julien Martini Ben Yu Elio Fox Mario Prats Garcia

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  Shaun DeebJohn HenniganEric BaldwinElio FoxMike LeahPaul Volpe