April 13 2012, Donnie Peters

When the 2012 World Poker Tour Vienna Day 2 came and went on Thursday, only 66 players remained to see the chips bagged and tagged. Morten Christensen led the way with 483,000 in chips, and Chris Moorman (411,500) and Tristan Wade (395,500) were close on his heels.

Darko Stojanovic held the lead coming into the day 320,000 chips. Although he didn’t exactly make any eyes pop with his stack movement, he finished fourth overall on the leaderboard with 354,000.

A few former WPT champions were still in the mix when Day 2 began. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Davidi Kitai and Sam El Sayed were among the former champs returning, but all three were eliminated before the day ended.

According to the WPT Live Updates Team, Kitai went out during Level 11 with the blinds at 600/1,200/200 when his failed to outrun his opponent’s pocket tens. El Sayed fell two levels later with the blinds at 1,000/2,000/300.

Also eliminated during Level 13 were Faraz Jaka and Steve O’Dwyer. Jaka hit the rail after his to , and then O’Dwyer was eliminated by the hot Stojanovic.

According to O’Dwyer, Wade made a min-raise and O’Dwyer flat-called with two kings. Stojanovic three-bet to 13,200 and action folded back to O’Dwyer. He reraised and made it 39,700 to go. Stojanovic called and the flop came down with one club. O’Dwyer bet 35,000 and Stojanovic called. The turn brought the and O’Dwyer fired 46,000. Stojanovic called again and the river completed the board with the . O’Dwyer checked and Stojanovic moved all in, having O’Dwyer covered. After tanking for a bit and even getting the clock called on him, O’Dwyer made the call. Stojanovic tabled for a straight and won the pot to eliminate one of the hottest players on the tournament circuit this year.

A few of the other players eliminated on Day 2 were Michel Abecassis, Xuan Liu, Sam Chartier, Adam Levy and Jason Wheeler. Those advancing included Ben Wilinofsky (260,000), Anton Wigg (234,000) and former WPT champion Roberto Romanello (223,000).

WPT Vienna Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Only 66 players remained going into Day 3 and the top 45 places pay out. PokerNews will have the daily update after Day 3 has been completed, so be sure to check back for that.

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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December 15 2011, Mickey Doft

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes a player’s results over six half-year periods. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier still holds down the fort at No. 1, but Erik Seidel, Jason Mercier, and Eugene Katchalov are all within striking distance. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of December 12, 2011

The new face in the top 10 this week is Matt Marafioti. After a runner-up showing in a $5,000 preliminary event at the 2011 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Marafioti finished 15th in the Main Event of the WPT Five Diamond. Sorel Mizzi returned to the top 10 after one of his aging Period 1 results from the 2011 WSOP gave his Period 2 results (which only had one result counting) a much-needed boost.

Welcome to the GPI

There were 17 new additions to the GPI this week. Topping the list in the No. 173 spot is James “Flushy” Dempsey. Dempsey is certainly ending 2011 in style as two final tables, including a win, have vaulted the Brit into the GPI. First, he finished third in a $5,000 preliminary event at the 2011 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Then came the Main Event, which he won.

New Additions

The 17 who fell from the GPI this week were Amnon Filippi, Chris Bjorin, James Calderaro, John Duthie, Michael Chow, Mihails Morozovs, Mike Sexton, Nicolas Chouity, Richard Lyndaker, Robert Suer, Seth Fischer, Steve Landfish, Tyler Kenney, Tyler Smith, Vadim Kursevich, Ville Haavisto, and Youcef Benzerfa.

Ups and Downs

The biggest rise of the week belonged to Andrew Lichtenberger. With his fourth-place finish in the 2011 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event over the weekend, Lichtenberger rocketed 152 places up the GPI.

Biggest Gains

Jesse Martin and Ali Eslami took the biggest tumbles down the GPI this week. Two of their 2011 WSOP cashes fell out of their Period 1 results, leaving just one cash to be counted in each of their Period 1s.

Biggest Drops

What’s In Store?

In addition to more 2011 WSOP scores aging, the Epic Poker League Main Event #3 kicked off on Wednesday and will be sure to have an effect on next week’s GPI.

To look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website. While you’re at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.

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Follow Mickey Doft on Twitter – @mrdoft

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