2014 Player of the Year Update -- Mike McDonald Takes The Lead

This year’s APPT Aussie Millions tournament series has made a huge impact on the 2014 Card Player Player of the Year race. Here is a look at the events from Australia and a WPT in Florida that most influenced the overall standings this past week:

APPT Aussie Millions Main Event

Canada’s Ami Barer emerged victorious in the 2014 APPT Aussie Millions $10,600 AUD no-limit hold’em main event. The 22-year-old topped a 668-player field to earn his first major live title, the $1.6 million AUD ($1,432,800 USD) first-place prize and 2,100 POY points. As a result he has been catapulted into fifth place in the overall standings.

Barer topped a tough final table that featured the likes of Scott Seiver (7th – $152,235), Darren Rabinowitz (4th – $402,975) and Jacob Balsiger (3th – $582,075). In the end it came to a heads-up battle with fellow Canadian and 2010 Aussie Millions main event third-place finisher Sorel Mizzi. Barer held just over a 2-to-1 chip lead when heads-up play began, but he was able to convert the lead to a win and send Mizzi to the rail in second place with $1,000,000 AUD ($895,500 USD) and 1,750 points. Mizzi had already taken down a small-field $25,000 high roller at Bellagio this year, and as a result of these two scores he has climbed to fourth place in the POY race standings.

Aussie Millions $100,000 Super High Roller

Yevgeniy Timoshenko was the lone survivor in the 2014 APPT Aussie Millions $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller. The American pro topped a record field of 76 entries, up from just 22 in 2013. For the win he earned $2 million AUD ($1,791,000 USD) and 840 POY points. As a result he climbed to 29th place in the overall POY standings and brought his lifetime live tournament earnings to nearly $6.8 million.

As you’d expect, Timoshenko had to top a star-studded field to emerge victorious in this high-stakes event. The final table alone featured the likes off Daniel Negreanu (6th – $550,000 AUD), Patrik Antonius (5th – $700,000) Doug “WGCRider” Polk (4th – $860,000) and Erik Seidel (3rd – $1,076,000). Heads-up play came down to Timoshenko and recent 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event runner-up Mike “Timex” McDonald. The two were relatively close in chips to start, but Timoshenko quickly pulled away and it wasn’t long before “Timex” hit the rail in second place. McDonald earned $1.5 million AUD ($1,343,250 USD) for his runner-up finish, as well as 700 POY points. McDonald was far from done down under, however, as he made yet another run in the next super high roller on offer.

Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller

Phil Ivey topped an elite field of 46 entries in the 2014 LK Boutique $250,000 Aussie Millions Challenge to win $4 million AUD ($3,573,600 USD). Ivey won this very event in 2012 and now holds the honor of being the first two-time champion. As a result of this gigantic score Ivey has now crossed the $20 million mark in career live tournament earnings, putting him in third place on the all-time money earners list.

This event saw a dramatic increase in turnout for it’s fourth running. When this event first took place in 2011 it drew 20 total entries, and the two subsequent years it mustered less than that. This year’s 46 total entries built a record prize pool of $11,720,000 AUD.

Mike “Timex” McDonald finished third for $1.9 million AUD ($1,697,460 USD) just days his runner-up score in the $100,000 AUD high roller for $1,500,000 AUD ($1,343,250 USD). McDonald had also made two final tables just weeks earlier at the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, finishing eighth in the $100,000 super high roller there and then following that up with a runner-up finish in the PCA main event for $1,064,865 USD, which means that McDonald has tallied three seven-figure scores already in 2014. This most recent cash earned him another 400 POY points, and as a result he has overtaken the lead in the POY race with 3,200 points and year-to-date earnings of $4,322,895.

WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event

James Calderaro has come out on top in the 2014 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event, earning $271,103 for topping a field of 415 players at the Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek, Florida. In addition to the money Calderaro also scored 1,080 POY points, enough to propel him into 19th place in the overall POY race standings.

Calderaro overcame a tough field en route to the win, having to outlast the likes of Matt Waxman (13th – $16,185), Ryan D’Angelo (12th – $19,827), Mukul Pahuja (8th – $36,147), Justin Zaki (7th – $45,318) and Kevin Stammen (3rd – $122,197) deep in this event. Heads-up play came down to Calderaro and Shannon Shorr, with the two entering the final showdown relatively close in the chip counts. The two battled it out for 105 hands heads-up, with many ups and downs. Calderaro eventually sent Shorr to the rail as the runner-up with $190,039 and 900 POY points, moving him into 26th place in the overall standings.

Here is a look at the current top 20 in the POY standings:

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