Global Poker Index: Stephen Chidwick Still Leading 2018 POY, Overall
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. Below we look at the 2018 Player of the Year and overall GPI rankings as of September 5.
2018 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | 2018 GPI POY Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | 3691.67 |
| 2 | Justin Bonomo | 3660.28 |
| 3 | Jake Schindler | 3569.71 |
| 4 | David Peters | 2936.16 |
| 5 | Adrian Mateos | 3096.99 |
| 6 | Alex Foxen | 2923.53 |
| 7 | Shaun Deeb | 2936.16 |
| 8 | Michael Soyza | 2934.50 |
| 9 | Anthony Zinno | 2936.63 |
| 10 | Joe McKeehen | 3086.82 |
There has been no change to the top of the leaderboard since we last looked in a month ago on the 2018 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race. Stephen Chidwick, Justin Bonomo, and Jake Schindler still occupy the top three spots, respectively, with Chidwick having now enjoyed seven straight weeks at No. 1 in the POY rankings.
Of those three, only Schindler added POY points to his total over the last month thanks to his big win in the $25,500 buy-in 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open High Roller. Schindler topped a 123-entry field in the event to win a $800,758 first prize.
Keep in mind that in the Global Poker Index POY race, only a player's top 13 results count towards the rankings, which means even though Chidwick notched a couple of cashes during the recently completed European Poker Tour Barcelona series, the points didn't crack his top 13 for the year and so didn't increase his total.
David Peters picked up three cashes in Barcelona himself as well as some POY points to help him move up a few spots to No. 4. Last year's GPI Player of the Year Adrian Mateos had four cashes in his home country of Spain (including a couple that were good for POY points) and holds firm at No. 5 currently, while Alex Foxen also had three cashes in Barcelona (including two final tables) to move into the top 10 over the last two weeks and up to No. 6.
Shaun Deeb, the current leader in the 2018 World Series of Poker Player of the Year race, also added POY points in Barcelona as well as for finishing runner-up to Schindler in that $25K SHRPO High Roller and is now at No. 7 for the overall 2018 POY.
Meanwhile Michael Soyza had a terrific EPT Barcelona series, kicking it off with a victory in an early €10,300 High Roller event and adding five more cashes to help him move to No. 8 in the rankings and help shift both Anthony Zinno (No. 9) and Joe McKeehen (No. 10) down a couple of notches.
Overall GPI Top 10
| Rank | Player | Overall GPI Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | 3844.56 |
| 2 | Justin Bonomo | 3666.36 |
| 3 | Alex Foxen | 3658.03 |
| 4 | Adrian Mateos | 3630.88 |
| 5 | David Peters | 3531.70 |
| 6 | Jake Schindler | 3406.11 |
| 7 | Benjamin Pollak | 3342.06 |
| 8 | Joe McKeehen | 3326.64 |
| 9 | Jason Koon | 3293.35 |
| 10 | Sam Greenwood | 3281.90 |
It's the same story at the top of the overall GPI rankings where Chidwick also remains at No. 1. The U.K. player has now been the top-ranked tournament player in the world for 21 straight weeks.
The Top 10 is mostly similar to what we saw at the start of last month, with a few exceptions. Alex Foxen moved up a couple of spots to No. 3 a few weeks ago where he has been holding steady. Foxen's highest career ranking to date is No. 2 (for one week in June).
There are two players in the overall Top 10 who weren't on the list a month ago. One is Jake Schindler who a month ago was No. 24 and now is at No. 6, the highest he has ever been ranked by the GPI.
The other new name on the list belongs to Benjamin Pollak who was hovering outside the Top 10 a month ago and is now at No. 7, also his career-high. Pollak finished fifth in the €100,000 EPT Barcelona Super High Roller won by Mikita Badziakouski, then won the €50,000 Single-Day High Roller for a big €979,000 first prize (worth about $1.14M USD).
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.
