Player of the Year

The World Series of Poker awarded bracelets in 15 events through two weeks of play at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and since then, three new faces have joined the top 10 in the Card Player Player of the Year race:

Allen Bari

Allen Bari took home the gold bracelet in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event, and he jumped to fourth place in the POY standings with the victory. He took home 1,920 points for his first gold bracelet win, and that gives him a total of 3,352 points in 2011. His other major cash in 2011 came when he busted out in fifth place at the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown main event, which was good for $211,997 and 1,000 points. Bari has now made four final tables in 2011 and earned $1,124,993.

Amir Lehavot

The first $10,000 world championship of the summer drew to a conclusion when Amir Lehavot was crowned the champion of the $10,000 pot-limit hold’em championship. He took home his first gold bracelet, 1,500 points, and a first-place prize worth $573,456. Lehavot also jumped to ninth place in the POY standings with the victory, and his 2011 total stands at 2,820 points. He scored the bulk of his previous points when he cashed in fourth place at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic main event in March, which was good for $421,680 and 1,200 points.

Sam Stein

Sam Stein also cashed at the $10,000 pot-limit hold’em championship final table. Although he busted out in third place behind Lehavot, he stands one spot ahead of him in the POY standings, in eighth place. Stein took home $264,651 and 1,000 points for his first WSOP final-table appearance, and his 2011 POY total now stands at 2,840 points. It was the third final-table appearance of the year for Stein, who finished in fourth place (1,500 points) at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January, and in second place (280 points) at a preliminary event at the Five-Star World Poker Classic in May.

WSOP Bracelet Winner POY Breakdown

Note: Non-open buy-in events are not included because they do not award POY points.
Buy-in Event Winner Points
$25,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em championship Jake Cody 936 points
$1,500 Omaha eight-or-better Francesco Barbaro 960 points
$1,500 seven-card stud Eugene Katchalov 864 points
$5,000 no-limit hold’em Allen Bari 1,920 points
$1,500 limit hold’em Harrison Wilder 960 points
$10,000 pot-limit hold’em championship Amir Lehavot 1,500 points
$1,000 no-limit hold’em Sean Getzwiller 1,440 points
$1,500 deuce-to-seven lowball championship Matt Perrins 672 points
$1,500 six-handed no-limit hold’em Geffrey Klein 1,200 points
$10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship Vyacheslav Zhukov 1,200 points
$1,500 no-limit hold’em triple chance David Diaz 1,200 points
$1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout Andrew Badecker 1,200 points
$3,000 limit hold’em Tyler Bonkowski 1,224 points
$1,500 pot-limit hold’em Brian Rast 960 points
$10,000 deuce-to-seven lowball championship John Juanda 780 points

The WSOP no-limit hold’em events have proven once again to be the most lucrative tournaments in the POY race. Bari’s 1,920 points were the most awarded to a bracelet winner this summer at press time. Each of the no-limit hold’em events with a buy-in of less than $25,000 has awarded more than 1,000 points to its champion. ♠