The Player of the Year race is a heated affair here in Cannes. We'll let the WSOP Media Guide tell the story of the WSOP POY and just why it's a big deal here in France:
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) instituted a Player of the Year system in 2004, once Harrah’s (now Caesars) took over the tournament.
The system awards points based on finish for all open bracelet events. Anyone who cashes in a WSOP gold bracelet event is awarded points. And the player with the most overall points is the winner of the WSOP Player of the Year. Bluff Magazine created and powers the formula used to determine the WSOP POY.
Adding the WSOP Player of the Year to your resume is one of the highest honors a poker player can achieve.
Typically, the individual who wins this award has multiple in-the-money finishes and at least a WSOP gold bracelet among those cashes. In fact, no player has won the award without at least capturing a WSOP gold bracelet.
The WSOP Player of the Year includes the seven gold bracelets awarded at WSOP Europe. This year’s winner has 65 events to compete in to qualify for the WSOP Player of the Year: 58 open events at the WSOP, and the seven up for grabs in Cannes, France at WSOPE.
Technically, Phil Ivey, with five final table appearances and 568.70 points, leads the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year standings. However, Greg Merson, who is amongst the finalists of the WSOP Main Event, has 481.13 points, plus he will earn an additional 100-500 points depending on where he finishes in Las Vegas. So Merson, if he doesn’t cash in any events at WSOP Europe and finishes ninth in the Main Event, will have 581.13 points. In a best case scenario, he will have 981.13 points for winning the WSOP Main Event.
The current WSOP Player of the Year standings can be found here.
Last year, it took until the Final Table of the WSOP Main Event to determine the winner. Ben Lamb beat out Phil Hellmuth for the crown.
2012 WSOP Player of the Year Standings Prior to WSOPE
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Ivey | 568.70 |
| 2 | John Monnette | 524.25 |
| 3 | Antonio Esfandiari | 513.10 |
| 4 | David “ODB” Baker | 508.38 |
| 5 | Phil Hellmuth | 500.70 |
| 6 | Michael Mizrachi | 486.20 |
| 7 | Gregory Merson | 481.13 |
| 8 | Vanessa Selbst | 463.17 |
| 9 | Timothy Adams | 410.78 |
| 10 | Andy Frankenberger | 406.66 |
, a player in the small blind moved all in and put the pressure on Dan O'Brien, who was sitting with 4,000 on the button. O'Brien seemed perplexed by the bet and thought for awhile, oftentimes talking things out, before making the call.
for a straight and O'Brien shook his head in disgust. "Good luck guys," he said as he collected his things and exited the tournament area.
, the player in the under-the-gun position bet 700 and received a call from Joe Kuether in the cutoff. The 
river saw the under-the-gun player slow down with a check, and then call when Kuether bet 1,200. The latter revealed 
for a rivered set, but it was no good against the 
of Kuether.
. We didn't catch the exact action, but we do know Tran and his opponent got it all in, with the latter being at risk for approximately 3,900.
, his only out. The dealer did not oblige and put out a blank on the river. Tran, who you may recall from this year's 
