Daniel Colman Wins 2014 Card Player Player of the Year Award

Daniel Colman cashed for $22,319,279 in live tournament earnings in 2014, blowing away the previous high water mark by more than $3 million to set the record for the most money earned in a single year in poker tournament history. It is only fitting that by accomplishing that historic achievement Colman also secured himself the 2014 Card Player Player of the Year award, sponsored by Carbon Poker. The young American poker pro won four gigantic titles and made nine total POY-qualified final tables along the way to securing the POY award, highlighted by his $15.3 million win in the $1,000,000 buy-in Big One For One Drop at the World Series of Poker.

Colman wasn’t always a world-beating force on the tournament scene, however. Three months into the year Colman was a well respected online heads-up sit-n-go specialist with only $350,000 in live tournament earnings under his belt. Nine months later the 24-year-old from Holden, Massachusetts had accumulated enough to put him into third place on the all-time tournament earnings leader board with $22.7 million placing him ahead of the likes of Phil Ivey($21.2 million), Erik Seidel ($20.8 million), Sam Trickett ($20.5 million) and Phil Hellmuth ($17.8 million).

Some might try to put an asterisk next to Colman’s achievement this year saying that the majority of his record-setting earnings in 2014 came from his win in the seven-figure buy-in Big One For One Drop. But Colman’s eight other POY qualified scores this year totaled $7,012,611 – more than any players this year outside of WSOP main event champ Martin Jacobson and Daniel Negreanu, who finished runner-up to Colman in the Big One For One Drop for over $8.2 million. Colman received only 600 of his total 5,498 POY points from his Big One win, and would still have finished second in the POY race if that one huge victory was discounted.

The player who before this year was best know by his online screen name “mrGR33N13” began his incredible run late in April at the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo. There he topped a field of 62 entries in the €100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller, defeating Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates heads-up to earn $2,129,775 and 720 POY points.

The following week he made another final table in a small-field €10,300 six-max no-limit hold’em event in Monte Carlo, finishing fifth for $68,666 and 150 points. Nearly two months Colman’s next deep run came in the World Series of Poker $10,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em championship. Colman used showed why is one of the most respected heads-up sit’n’go players in the world, making it all the way to the semi-finals, losing in round seven to eventual champion Davide Suriano.

Just over a week later Colman joined 41 others in posting the $1,000,000 buy-in for the second ever Big One For One Drop. In the end the player who would go on to capture this year’s POY title defeated 2013’s winner Daniel Negreanu heads-up for the title, his first WSOP gold bracelet, 600 POY points and the $15,306,668 first-place prize. With two of the largest titles of the year claimed, it was clear that Colman was going to be a huge factor in the POY race for the rest of the year.

The Big One For One Drop was televised on ESPN, and Colman caused a small controversy with his hesitance to promote poker in the wake of his win. He exercised his right to politely decline media requests, giving only a brief interview for the TV broadcast that centered entirely on the charitable aspects of the tournament, which raised money help provide clean drinking water to those with limited access. Colman later shared some of his reasoning for declining interviews on the 2+2 internet poker forum.

Less than two weeks after the biggest win of his career Colman was back at it, finishing third in a $100,000 buy-in super high roller at Aria for $796,821 and 400 points. That a huge score like this, for over three quarters of a million dollars, is relegated to almost a footnote on his 2014 performance is a prime example of just how incredible Colman’s year was.

Late in August Colman made sixth big score of the year, finishing runner-up in the European Poker Tour Barcelona €50,000 eight-max no-limit hold’em super high roller for $1,120,186 and 595 points. Incredibly the final showdown was between Colman and eventual champion Olivier Busquet, who in some ways was a mentor to Colman in his poker career.

The two came together in an interesting manner. In 2007 Colman was sweating Busquet playing online and was often able to correctly put Busquet on specific hands, typing his reads into the chat box as he watched ‘livb112’ battle it out. Busquet, who is one of the more respected names in the heads-up sit’n’go world, was impressed by just how often Colman was right and looked into his results. Busquet eventually reached out to him, staking him and coaching him. The relationship helped Colman on the path to becoming one of the formats most feared players, and in 2013 he became the first hyper-turbo sit’n’go player in online history to win more than $1,000,000in a calendar year discounting rake back, a feat he achieved in only 9 months.

While Busquet came out on top in this showdown, Colman’s second place finish was enough to move him into the top ten in the Player of the Year race. Through the end of summer Colman had proven himself in high buy-in, smaller field events. His next win was the one that solidified his claim as the undeniable tournament player of the year.

A total of 1,499 entries were made in the $10,000,000 guaranteed $5,300 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open main event, one of the largest fields of the year. Colman emerged victorious in the end, topping a tough final table that included the likes of Mike Leah, Shawn Cunix and John Dolan. For the win he earned $1,446,710 and 1,920 POY points, with his fourth seven-figure score of the year and his third title catapulting him into the outright lead in the POY race.

Just over a month later Colman would go on to win his fourth title of the year, coming out on top of the £60,000 World Poker Tour Alpha8 London event to win $964,539 and 600 points. This was Colman’s seventh score of the year for six-figures or more, and fell just over $35,000 short of being his fifth seven-figure score of 2014. Colman’s seventh-place finish in the Asia Championship of Poker $500,000 HKD super high roller $373,972 and 128 points was the final flourish, bringing his points total to 5,498 and his year-to-date earnings to $22,319,279. It seems unlikely that anyone will ever put together a year like Colman did on the poker tournament circuit.

While his performance has made him a star of the game, Colman has maintained his stance on talking to the media, declining to be interviewed after winning the Card Player Player of the Year title. Colman elected to let his poker do the talking, and this year nobodies game spoke louder.

Colman’s POY-Qualified Final Table Finishes:

Here is a look at the final standings in the 2014 POY Race:

Card Player Player of the Year Winners: