September 15 2011, Mickey Doft

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world. This week, there is a new No. 1. Overtaking Jason Mercier by the slimmest of margins, Erik Seidel now sits atop the GPI for the first time. There was some more movement in the top ten that we’ll also delve into. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of September 12, 2011

Thanks to his fourth-place finish in the Epic Poker League #2 Main Event, Seidel’s Period 1 score improved. Why? This finish trumped his second-place finish in the 2011 World Poker Tour Hollywood Poker Open, leading to an ever-so-slight GPI-score gain of 6.06. That alone was was not enough to trump Mercier’s score from last week, but don’t forget that the GPI calculates a player’s top three scores over six periods of six months.

Mercier’s GPI score dropped by 14.19 because of a cash from 2008. His second-largest Period 6 score was a sixth-place finish at the 2008 European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event. However, that score is now more than three years ago and not only does that finish drop from Mercier’s Period 6 calculations, but it no longer counts in his GPI score at all.

Sorel Mizzi and Fabrice Soulier also increased their GPI scores in the past week thanks to impressive results. Mizzi took down the “15,000 High Roller event at the World Poker Tour in Paris last week, giving his Period 1 results a much-needed boost. Soulier, meanwhile, finished in third place at the Epic Poker League #2 Main Event to up his score, as well.

Welcome to the GPI

Thirteen players are new to the GPI this week. Among them are Adam Levy and David Steicke, thanks to their respective showings in the Epic Poker League #2 Main Event.

New Additions

With 13 new additions, there were also 13 people who fell off the list. Gone from the GPI this week are Alex Keating, Alex Wice, Brett Richey, Georges Yazbeck, Hasan Habib, James Mitchell, Joe Elpayaa, Morten Mortensen, Simon Ravnsbaek, Shawn Busse, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Ville Haavisto, and Yuval Bronshtein.

Ups and Downs

A win at the 2011 WPT Grand Prix de Paris vaulted Matt Waxman to the No. 16 ranking on the GPI. The biggest rise of the week belonged to Tyler Bonkowski. Although his only recent result was a 36th-place finish in the aforementioned 2011 WPT Grand Prix de Paris, that is Bonkowski’s third cash in the last six months, giving him a full complement of Period 1 scores to be counted toward the GPI.

Biggest Gains

On the other end of the spectrum, Nicolas Chouity suffered a very steep drop in the GPI. A fifth-place score in the 2011 Merit Spring Open Main Event slipped from Period 1 to 2, resulting in a 93-spot plummet. Sam Trickett also fell from his previous rank of No. 31 due to a result counting for a new period. In his case, his win in the PartyPoker.com World Open VI last September is now a part of his Period 3 calculations, rather than Period 2.

Biggest Drops

What’s In Store?

Currently taking place is the 2011 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event. There is still a long way to go, but among the 101 players remaining (at the time of the writing of this article) are Juha Helppi, Will “The Thrill” Failla, John Eames, and Sam Trickett. Holding down the No. 21, No. 23, No. 47, and No. 88 spots respectively, will any of these players make a big leap up the GPI next week? Also, Christian Harder topped a field in a $3,000 Heads-Up event at the Borgata in Atlantic City on Wednesday. Might that result in a rise from his current No. 40 ranking?

Though he jumped into the top 20 this week, Matt Waxman may be due for a slide back down. His third-place finish in the 2011 Wynn Classic Main Event is due to slip from Period 1 to 2 either next week or the following (depending on the cutoff date), so his Period 1 results will dip a little bit.

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

Comments

September 12 2011, Donnie Peters

Everyone knows the Epic Poker League is giving plenty back to its players, including plenty of perks and $400,000 in added prize money to each prize pool. Another thing that EPL is doing for the players is a $1,000,000 freeroll at the end of the season for the top 27 money earners from the four regular-season Main Events.

In the first event, it was Chino Rheem who defeated Erik Seidel heads up to earn the $1,000,000 first-place prize. In the second, Mike “Timex” McDonald bested David Steicke to win $782,410. The first event awarded payouts to 18 spots while the second only paid 12.

For the freeroll at the end of the season, the 27 best-performing players will have their chance to play for a $500,000 first-place prize in this event that will be paying out the top six spots. Let’s take a look at the top 27 money earners after two of the four regular-season Main Events have been completed.

Out of all of the in-the-money finishers from both Main Events, only Seidel, Isaac Baron, Adam Levy and Matt Glantz have cashed in both events. Brandon Meyers, Sean Getzwiller and Dan Fleyshman are making the most of their chances in the Main Event and are currently in the top 27 money earners. All three of them don’t have EPL membership cards and have won in via the Pro/Am Qualifier.

The final two spots are still up for grabs, but that should all come into play next time around. The benchmark seems to be making the final table of one of these events in order to just about guarantee your way in the top 27 – at least that’s how most of the players feel.

The next event of the EPL takes place on December 14-18 and more names will find their way into this list. It’ll be interesting to see who gets moved in and who gets bumped out, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all of our coverage of the EPL.

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*Photo courtesy of Epic Poker

Follow Donnie Peters on Twitter – @Donnie_Peters