Player of the Year

The World Series of Poker main event is always the tournament with the largest number of Player of the Year (POY) points up for grabs. This year was no different, and World Champion Jonathan Duhamel reaped the rewards of winning the biggest poker tournament of the year, both monetarily and in terms of POY points. He won 3,600 points for topping the second-largest tournament field of all time (7,319 players), along with $8,944,138, and jumped into eighth place in the standings despite this being his first POY score of the year.

A few other members of the “November Nine” added points to their previous scores in 2010 to jump into the top 20. Third-place finisher (2,400 points) Joseph Cheong now sits in 11th place with 3,302 points, thanks to preliminary-event wins at the Festa al Lago (432 points) and WSOP Circuit Rincon stop (288 points). He also received points for a fourth-place finish in a heads-up event at the L.A. Poker Classic (182 points).

Main-event runner-up John Racener (3,000 points) is right behind Cheong in 12th place, with 3,293 points. His other points came from a final-table appearance in the pot-limit Omaha event at the WSOP Europe, and a 21st-place finish in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha world championship at the WSOP.

Michael Mizrachi joined the top 30 with his fifth-place finish (1,500 points). He is in 29th place, thanks in large part to his strong performance during the WSOP. He
captured 864 points for his victory in the $50,000 Players Championship, and padded his stats with final-table appearances in the $10,000 seven-card stud world championship (300 points) and the $10,000 limit hold’em world championship (170 points).

Here is the breakdown of prize money and POY points awarded at the WSOP main-event final table:

1 Jonathan Duhamel $8,944,138 (3,600 points)
2 John Racener $5,545,855 (3,000 points)
3 Joseph Cheong $4,129,979 (2,400 points)
4 Filippo Candio $3,092,497 (1,800 points)
5 Michael Mizrachi $2,332,960 (1,500 points)
6 John Dolan $1,772,939 (1,200 points)
7 Jason Senti $1,356,708 (900 points)
8 Matt Jarvis $1,045,738 (600 points)
9 Soi Nguyen $811,823 (300 points)

Vanessa Selbst Now Third in the POY Race

Team PokerStars pro Vanessa Selbst continued her very strong performance in 2010 by winning a second tournament title of the year in the Partouche Poker Tour main event in Cannes, on the shores of the French Riviera. She won $1,823,430 in prize money after topping a field of 764 players, and added 2,400 points to her POY total. She now has 4,608 points, which is good for third place in the standings.
Selbst kicked off her POY campaign with a bang by winning the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Mohegan Sun main event, for 1,920 points. She won an additional 288 points with a final-table appearance in the EPT London high-roller event earlier this year.

Here is the breakdown of prize money and POY points awarded at the PPT main-event final table:

1 Vanessa Selbst $1,823,430 (2,400 points)
2 Raphael Kroll $1,122,110 (2,000 points)
3 Fabrice Soulier $701,320 (1,600 points)
4 Tommi Etelapera $504,950 (1,200 points)
5 Ibrahim Raouf $420,792 (1,000 points)
6 Soren Kongsgaard $336,634 (800 points)
7 Cyril Andre $262,995 (600 points)
8 Tobias Reinkemeier $154,711 (400 points)

First NAPT Los Angeles Main Event a Lucrative Endeavor for Joe Tehan

Joe Tehan earned each and every one of the 1,920 POY points that he was awarded as the champion of the inaugural NAPT L.A. main event. He eliminated all seven of his opponents at the final table and won $725,000 for topping a field of 701 players. He took his career tournament earnings to more than $3 million in the process. He now has 2,884 points and resides in 26th place in the standings.

Here is the breakdown of prize money and POY points awarded at the NAPT L.A. main-event final table:

1 Joe Tehan $725,000 (1,920 points)
2 Christopher DeMaci $440,000 (1,600 points)
3 Al Grimes $250,000 (1,280 points)
4 Anh Van Nguyen $195,000 (960 points)
5 Ray Henson $145,000 (800 points)
6 Michael Binger $114,000 (640 points)
7 Jason Mercier $84,857 (480 points)
8 Jake Toole $60,000 (320 points)