Player Of The Year: Chris Moorman Takes Player of Year Lead, Fox Joins Top Five

The Card Player Player of the Year race was shaken up in a big way over the past couple of weeks due to a series of huge European events.

The World Series of Poker Europe main event made its debut in Cannes, France this year at the Majestic Barrière Casino. It was a great success, with impressive growth over prior years. When the WSOPE premiered in 2007, its three events drew 623 total players. This year’s series featured seven bracelet events that attracted a total of 2,626 players, with the marquee €10,000 main event drawing an impressive field of 593 players, shattering the previous high-water mark of 362 players for the event.

After five days of play, American Elio Fox came out on top, defeating Chris Moorman for the title, €1,400,000 first prize and 2,400 POY points. Fox has earned $2,684,544 in POY qualifying events so far this year, and 4,320 POY points in the process.

In addition to taking down this prestigious event, Fox won the 2011 Bellagio Cup main event for $669,692 and 1,320 POY points, as well as a $1,500 event at the 2011 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III for $87,192 and 600 POY points. These three big wins were enough to vault him into fourth place in the overall POY standings.

Runner-up Chris Moorman may have finished second in this event, but he now sits at the very top of the standings on the overall leader board with 5,875 POY points. The second-place finish netted him €800,000 or $1,101,520, as well as 2000 POY points. He is now leading second place Sam Stein by a margin of 1,370 points. Also noteworthy is the fact that Moorman is also currently ranked seventh in the Online Player of the Year race with $650,345 in online cashes this year.

Moorman has had a number of important scores in some of 2011’s biggest no-limit hold’em events, with a total of $2,289,194 in POY qualified earnings. He started the year off by making the final table of the Aussie Millions $10,000 main event, finishing seventh for $174,244 and 600 POY points. He followed that up with an impressive summer at the World Series of Poker, starting off with a third-place finish in a $2,500 six-max no-limit hold’em event for $271,800 and 1200 POY points. He improved on that score with a runner-up finish in the $10,000 six-max no-limit hold’em event for $716,282. This most recent score at the WSOP Europe main event was his first seven-figure cash, making it the largest of his career.

Within days of the completion of the WSOPE, another massive tournament series got underway in Europe, this time in a small city on the coast of Italy. The European Poker Tour San Remo featured 23 events, but the largest by far was the €4,600 main event, which drew 837 players, building a massive €3.7 million dollar prize pool.

After a weeks worth of play, 837 was narrowed down to one man, Russian Andrey Pateychuk, who took home €680,000 and 1,920 POY points. With the 180 POY points he earned for finishing 15th in the WSOP Main Event, Pateychuk will move into 53rd position in the overall POY standings.

Some big names joined Pateychuk at the final table, including Hendon Mob member Barny Boatman, who finished fourth for €225,000 and 960 POY points.

2010 EPT Berlin winner Kevin MacPhee also made the final table, finishing eighth for €63,694 and 320 POY points.

Sam Stein is currently ranked second in the overall standings, and he continued his impressive 2011 with a win in EPT San Remo’s €10,000 eight-max event. After making a deal heads-up, he defeated Bryn Kenney to top the 46-player field and earn €162,000. Although this event did not qualify for POY points, it was another impressive win and another great accomplishment for Stein in a year full of milestones.

Some sizable events also took place on the other side of the Atlantic. The 2011 World Series of Poker Circuit stop in Hammond, Indiana drew huge fields for many of its events. The first event of 12 in the series, a $350 no-limit hold’em re-entry, drew an incredible 3,001 entries. This built a prize pool of $873,291 and a first prize of $124,438, which is remarkably large for such a low buy-in.

The $1,500 main event was also re-entry, allowing busted players to buy in again on subsequent starting days. The tournament drew 1,615 entries and built a nearly $2.4 million prize pool. After four days of play, it was 51-year-old Robert Chow who came out on top, earning $393,584. In addition to the first-place prize, Chow was awarded a gold WSOP Circuit ring, entry into the $1 million WSOP Circuit National Championship in Las Vegas, and 1,200 POY points.

Chow defeated Indiana native and 2011 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Aaron Steury heads-up for the title. Stuery took home $243,818 and 1000 POY points for his runner-up finish, moving him into 60th place on the overall standings with $537,376 in POY qualified earnings this year.

Looking ahead, some big changes to the POY top ten could be on the horizon with the November Nine playing out the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event final table on November 6th and 8th. The winner stands to take home 3,600 points, and with Ben Lamb sitting fifth in chips and 13th in the POY standings with 3,636 POY points, it is possible for him to take the overall lead.

Here is a look at the POY Points that will be awarded at the Rio:

First Place: 3,600 points
Second Place: 3,000 points
Third Place: 2,400 points
Fourth Place: 1,800 points
Fifth Place: 1,500 points
Sixth Place: 1,200 points
Seventh Place: 900 points
Eighth Place: 600 points
Ninth Place: 300 points

A Look At The Standings