Card Player POY Update -- Kovalchuk and Trickett On The Rise

Here is a look at the Card Player Player of the Year movement from September 14-21. Be sure to check back each Wednesday for another update from the world of tournament poker.

Partouche Poker Tour Main Event

The Partouche Poker Tour main event, held at the Cannes Palm Beach Casino in France, has become one of the largest tournaments on the international circuit. Last year the event attracted 764 players, building a $7,968,210 prize pool. Eventual champion Vanessa Selbst took home $1,823,430 and 2400 POY points for her win, putting her right in the thick of the 2010 Card Player Player of the Year race.

The 2011 running of the event promises to be just as crucial to this year’s POY race. 570 players registered for the €8,500 buy-in main event, but now only nine remain. In an homage to the World Series of Poker’s November Nine, this final table will also be delayed until November 12th. Big payouts and a lot of points are on the line, with some key Player of the Year contenders making the final table.

Here are the final table payouts and POY points that will be awarded:

1st: €1,000,000 – 2,400 POY points

2nd: €600,000 – 2,000 POY points

3rd: €379,760 – 1,600 POY points

4th: €300,000 – 1,200 POY points

5th: €230,000 – 1,000 POY points

6th: €190,000 – 800 POY points

7th: €160,000 – 600 POY points

8th: €130,000 – 400 POY points

9th: €100,000 – 200 POY points

Play will resume with British professional Sam Trickett in the lead with 2.6 million in chips. Trickett has had an impressive 2011 so far. At the Aussie Millions in January, Trickett won the $100,000 Challenge for $1,525,000 and 432 POY points, and within a week finished runner-up in the $250,000 Super High Roller to Erik Seidel for another $1,493,736 and 304 POY points. He also finished sixth in the World Poker Tour Diamond Championship for $59,403 and 304 POY points, as well as 11th in the inaugural Epic Poker League main event for $49,360 and 42 POY points. All told, Trickett has cashed for $3,127,499 in POY qualifying events this year, and has earned 1,136 points. This is only good enough for 247th place in the POY race currently, but he stands to move as high as 12th with a victory in November.

Entering the final table in seventh chip position is Ukranian Oleksii Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk currently sits in eighth place in the Player of the Year race, with three titles won so far this year. In February he took down the Russian Poker Tour Kiev main event for $123,456 and 828 POY points. At the 2011 WSOP Kovalchuk took home his first bracelet, $689,739 and 1,800 POY points for a win in a $2,500 no-limit hold’em six-handed event. Earlier this month Kovalchuk also took down the Italian Poker Tour Nova Gorica main event for $217,407 and 1152 POY points. All told, Kovalchuk has cashed for $1,044,496 in 2011, and has a great shot at much more money and POY points come November 12th.

Here are the final nine and their chip counts:

1. Sam Trickett – 2,605,000
2. Alexandre Coussy – 2,473,000
3. Salman Behbehani – 2,446,000
4. Mads Wissing – 2,144,000
5. Mustapha Kanit – 2,047,000
6. Roger Hairabedian – 1,890,000
7. Oleksii Kovalchuk – 1,626,000
8. Ilan Boujenah – 1,241,000
9. Alexander Dovzhenko – 944,000

Borgata Poker Open

From September 7-22, The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is running the 2011 Borgata Poker Open, a 24-event series headlined by its $3,500 main event, which drew a record setting 1,313 players and is still in progress. The winner of that event is set to take home $922,441.

The first event of the series was a $450 buy-in deep stack re-entry tournament that drew an impressive 1,718 players, creating a $687,200 prize pool. Vincent Maglio won the event for $140,852 and 600 POY points.

Kunal Patel bested a field of 246 players in the $1,500 no-limit hold’em bounty event to win $100,225 and 600 POY points and moving him to 197th place in the overall race. Finishing third in that same event was 2010 WSOP main event runner-up John Racener. He earned $34,003 and 400 POY points for his finish, moving him into 168th place in the 2011 POY race.

Christian Harder won the $3,200 Heads Up event for $61,690, but with only 53 players the event failed to qualify for POY points.

WSOP Circuit Bossier City

The World Series of Poker Circuit rolled in to Bossier City, Louisiana this month, with 30 events held between September 8-19. $1,703,525 dollars were awarded over the series.

The Main Event championship was a $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. There were 475 entries, creating a total prize pool of $681,125. The top 54 players made the money, but the last mad standing was David Nicholson. He collected $148,590 and 960 POY points for his win and moved into 78th place overall in the POY race.

Looking Ahead

The WPT Borgata Poker Open main event will be wrapping up on the 23rd, and with a record setting field the event is sure to make some changes to the POY landscape.

Also around the corner is the WPT Regional Western Poker Challenge, which will hold it’s $2,500 main event at the Atlantis Casino & Resort in Reno, Nevada beginning on September 24th.

Across the pond, the PokerStars.com Estrellas Poker Tour Ibiza is playing host to a €2,000 high roller event that started on September 20th, and a €1,000 main event on September 21st.

A Look At The Standings

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