Player of the Year

Look Out: Chris Klodnicki
At the last World Series of Poker Circuit event that took place in Atlantic City at Caesars Palace in March 2008, Chris Klodnicki made the final table and finished in eighth place. At the 2009 World Series of Poker, Klodnicki finished third in event No. 42 ($2,500 mixed games), which came one year after his first WSOP final-table appearance, a second-place finish in a $1,500 razz event. Klodnicki is used to making final tables at WSOP events, but he had never captured a tournament title, after coming so close multiple times. All of that changed for the 24-year-old poker professional when he outlasted 194 opponents to win the Harrah’s Atlantic City WSOP Circuit $5,000 no-limit hold’em championship in December 2009.

He took home $215,915 and 960 Card Player 2009 Player of the Year (POY) points for the win. That gave him a total of 2,088 points, which was good for 75th place in the standings. He won his other POY points with the aforementioned final-table appearances in the WSOP Circuit championship event at Caesars Palace in Atlantic City (168 points for eighth place) and the 2009 WSOP $2,500 mixed-games event (960 points for third place). He improved upon his performance in the 2008 POY race, when he scored 1,946 points to finish in 110th place.

“I feel great; I was having a pretty off year, and this ended the year on a great note. I was starting to lose my confidence, and this picked it up a lot,” said Klodnicki after his win. That boost in confidence should serve him well in 2010. Look for him to make a few final tables in the future, and if he is able to build on his confidence and book multiple wins next year, he could be a contender in the 2010 POY race.