September 06 2012, 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. Changes were minimal near the top of the GPI this week, meaning Jason Mercier still holds a narrow lead. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of September 3, 2012

Welcome to the GPI

Six players are new to this week’s GPI and leading them is Nick Wong. He took down the $258,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller at the 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge.

New Additions

PlayerTotal GPI ScoreGPI Rank

Nick Wong	1,235.63	215th
Ondrek Vinklarek	1,122.04	264th
Greg Ronaldson	1,100.43	282nd
Erich Kollman	1,086.38	292nd
Bryan Devonshire	1,086.15	293rd
Ryan Eriquezzo	1,074.26	300th

Falling from the GPI this week were Andrew Robl, Antony Lellouche, Johnny Lodden, Martin Staszko, Max Lehmanski, and Tim Finne.

Ups and Downs

Jeff Madsen had the biggest rise up the ranks this week. Thanks to his sixth-place finish in the WPT Legends of Poker for $75,400, Madsen is off the GPI bubble for the time being.

Biggest Gains

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week

22nd	Philipp Gruissem	2,209.28	+20
37th	Sam Trickett	1,989.71	+45
70th	John Juanda	1,800.73	+21
98th	Joni Jouhkimainen	1,619.76	+31
125th	Ali Eslami	1,539.36	+81
129th	Yevgeniy Timoshenko		+48
164th	Brian Hawkins	1,379.17	+29
193rd	David Paredes	1,284.47	+41
208th	Jeff Madsen	1,243.77	+83
240th	Dominik Nitsche	1,163.30	+34

Taking the biggest dive this week was Joe Ebanks. His runner-up finish in a “2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at EPT Barcelona in 2011 (worth “100,750) aged into Period 3.

Biggest Drops

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week

111th	Davidi Kitai	1,584.77	-35
127th	Frederik Jensen	1,523.66	-33
139th	Vadzim Kursevich	1,502.20	- 38
151st	Sergio Castelluccio	1,444.60	- 25
180th	Dominykas Karmazinas	1,333.30	-80
209th	Anatoly Gurtovy	1,243.00	-29
253rd	Artem Litvinov	1,138.23	-30
263rd	Andrea Benelli	1,122.37	-26
281st	Konstantin Tolokno	1,100.72	-35
298th	Joe Ebanks	1,077.74	-89

What’s In Store?

Aside from the 2012 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event running currently, later in September is when the tournament scene will really pick up again when the World Series of Poker Europe, WPT Grand Prix de Paris, WPT Malta, and WPT Borgata Poker Open take place.

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.

To stay on top of the GPI and other happenings in the poker world, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

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September 03 2012, Josh Cahlik

Another grueling day of tournament poker ended on Sunday at the WinStar World Casino’s River Poker Series Main Event. Players from three starting flights combined on Day 2 to wage war on the felt for their share of the $2,500,000 guaranteed prize pool. It took a mere 10 levels for the 141 players who began the day to become the final 15. Matt Newcombe, who finished Day 1a as the chip leader and was the overall chip leader coming into Day 2 has once again finished at the top of the field with a stack of 3,245,000.

Aaron Massey held onto the second largest stack at the end of the day with 2,890,000 in chips. Massey was able to gain a majority of his stack during a three-way all in that occurred fairly early on during Day 2 play. Mark Eddleman opened the action preflop with a raise to 9,000 and was called by Jerry Lorett. Massey moved out a three-bet to 24,000 from the button and both of his opponents called.

The flop fell and Eddleman checked. Lorett open-shipped all in for an unknown amount and Massey called. Eddleman then moved all in over the top and Massey snap called for his tournament life.

Showdown

Massey:
Eddleman:
Lorett:

Massey was in the lead with his flopped set, but needed to dodge Lorett’s straight and flush outs. The fell on the turn and the on the river. An excited Massey jumped into the air and gave powerful fist pump at the sight of two small black cards. This hand propelled him to 655,000 early on in the day and his stack continued to grow exponentially as the day progressed.

Day 2 saw a slew of notable names return to the felt from their various starting flights. Having already cashed, these players were searching for glory and the ever elusive final table appearance. Among those to finally see their tournament come to an end on Day 2 were Brett Schwertley, Chris Moneymaker, Maria Ho, Heath Herring, AP Phahurat, Kurt Jewell and 2012 World Series of Poker Octo-Niner Robert Salaburu.

David “Doc” Sands was expected to make a strong showing on Day 2 and did not disappoint. Sands seemed to be a magnet for action throughout the day as we saw him come from behind twice to double up for his tournament life during play. Sands remained one of the top stacks for a majority of the day, but finally met his untimely end before the field combined for the final two tables.

Sands moved all in on a board of only to have Peter Zhmutski quickly move all in over the top. The third player in the hand folded and Sands showed for a straight. Unfortunately for Sands, Zhmutski held for the nut straight and was able to send Sands home in 20th place.

While Sands was ultimately disappointed with his finish, he had nothing but positive words to say about the event and tournament staff after the fact.

Final 15 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerChips

1	Matt Newcombe	3,245,000
2	Aaron Massey	2,890,000
3	Peter Zhmutski	2,865,000
4	Andy Robinson	2,135,000
5	Richard Tygum	2,095,000
6	Patricia Cardner	1,200,000
7	Cord Garcia	1,090,000
8	Chris Hooper	1,050,000
9	Justin Gardenhire	905,000
10	Matt Shepsky	820,000
11	Mark Kehrees	745,000
12	Brad Tucker	640,000
13	Sam Murphy	535,000
14	Ron Roberts	435,000
15	Jay Merchant	300,000

At 1200 CST (1800 BST) on Monday the final 15 players will return to the Global Events Center in the heart of the WinStar World Casino to play down to a champion. Make sure to stay tuned to our live reporting page to follow as this exciting event reaches its dramatic conclusion!

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