23-Year-Old Former College Soccer Player Wins WPT Player of the Year Race
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The World Poker Tour (WPT) has named its Season 23 Player of the Year, a distinction that went to 23-year-old Harvey Castro.
Castro, a former soccer player for Southern Methodist University, earned the POY victory thanks in no small part to finishing runner-up in the WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event for $193,600 and later taking down the WPT Prime Lodge Championship for $225,020.
Castro Secures Victory
Castro secured the POY victory with 1,850 points and $411,320 in 2025 tour earnings despite not winning a WPT Main Event title. He beat out WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star champion Kharlin Sued, who won the event in December for $480,700 and ended the year with 1,600 POY points.
Meanwhile, WPT World Championship winner Schuyler Thornton finished third in the POY race with 1,575 points after winning $2.2 million in the biggest event of the season.
Season 23 WPT Player of the Year Results
| Rank | Player | POY Points | Earnings | Cashes | Final Tables | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvey Castro | 1,850 | $411,320 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Kharlin Sued | 1,600 | $576,400 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Schuyler Thornton | 1,575 | $2,298,516 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Mike Vanier | 1,550 | $423,200 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Art Peacock | 1,425 | $806,500 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Nico Betbese | 1,400 | $709,440 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Kevin Nee | 1,325 | $620,200 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Danny Wong | 1,275 | $341,780 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Soheb Porbandarwala | 1,250 | $1,969,344 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | Aaron Johnson | 1,200 | $1,010,400 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
In addition to his WPT Prime Lodge Championship victory and runner-up finish in the WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event, Castro finished fourth in a $10,000 6-Max event at WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $81,600.
Castro also had success on other tours in 2025, including finishing runner-up in a $10,000 PokerGO Cup $10,000 event for $193,500.
Other players who made the top ten in the WPT POY race include Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship winner Art Peacock (5th - 1,425 points), Danny Wong (8th - 1,275 points) and WPT World Championship runner-up Soheb Porbandarwala (10th - 1,200 points).
Get Head Start on POY Race With WPT Global
WPT Season 24 is currently underway and will see the tour going to Las Vegas in February with the WPT Venetian Las Vegas Spring Championship.
It's never too early for players to start thinking about the POY race, and they can get a head start on the competition by winning WPT tournament seats on WPT Global.
Currently, WPT Global is running weekly satellites that guarantee packages to the $1 million guaranteed $1,100 WPT Prime Cyprus Championship.
