2014 CarbonPoker Card Player Player of the Year Update -- J.C. Tran Climbs To Tenth Place

The World Series of Poker has just reached it’s halfway point, and already it’s made a huge impact on the 2014 Card Player Player of the Year race, sponsored by CarbonPoker. Here is a look at the events that most influenced the overall standings over the past seven days:

WSOP Event 30 – $1,500 Stud Eight-or-Better

Calvin Anderson quickly and ruthlessly made his way through a tough final table in the 2014 World Series of Poker $1,500 seven card stud eight-or-better event, earning his first gold bracelet and $190,538 in the process.

Anderson has long been a highly respected online, where he is known as “cal42688.” Anderson has racked up over $3.5 million in online earnings, and has recently dedicated more of his focus to live events. He recently placed eighth in the WSOP $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship earning $50,966 and 150 points. With the 840 POY points he earned in this event, and the points he garnered at two final tables prior to the series, he has climbed into a tie for 31st place in the overall POY standings with Mike Leah.

Anderson had to outlast a tough field on the final day of play that included the likes of Ted Forrest (9th), John Myung (8th), Jimmy Fricke (7th) and eventual runner-up Joe Tehan, who earned $118,014 for his runner-up finish, bringing his lifetime live tournament earnings to over $4.2 million.

WSOP Event 31 – $1,500 No-limit Hold’em

31-year-old Kansas native Brett Shaffer won his second career bracelet in event no. 31, topping a field of 2,816 players in the $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournament to win the $418,435 first-place prize and 1,080 Player of the Year points. This was Shaffer’s second final table of 2014, having placed third in a $400 event at the Venetian’s Deepstack Extravaganza II series this Spring. As a result he now sits in 48th place in the overall POY standings.

Shaffer had to outlast a tough field with plenty of notables among the final few tables, including Lauren Kling (37th), Perry Friedman (28th), Ray Qartomy (23rd), Steve McNally (10th), Peter Gould (4th) and Matt Stout (3rd). This was Stout’s fourth final table of the last four years at the WSOP, but his sixth final table appearance of 2014. He earned $170,247 and 720 POY points for his deep run, moving him into 20th place in the rankings, with 1,893 total points and year-to-date earnings of $530,564.

WSOP Event 32 – $5,000 Six-Max No-limit Hold’em

Joe Cada won the 2009 World Series of Poker main event as a 21-year-old, making him the youngest player ever to become world champion. He has found plenty of success since then, making six live final tables, winning a prelim at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and finishing runner-up for a bracelet in 2012. The 26-year-old’s most recent poker tournament achievement, however, will probably go down as the one that cemented him as an elite player. Cada topped a stacked field of 264 entrants in the 2014 WSOP $10,000 six-max no-limit hold’em championship to win his second gold bracelet and $670,041.

As one might expect, Cada had to outlast 12 of the game’s top players on the final day of this prestigious event, including the likes of Lee Markholt (12th), Scott Clements (11th), Geoge Danzer (9th) and Martin Jacobson (7th). With the elimination of Dario Sammartino in fifth place, Cada only had Erick Lindgren (5th), JC Tran (4th), Max Silver (3rd) and Eventual runner-up Jeremy Ausmus to contend with. Ausmus, who final tabled the main event in 2012 and won a bracelet at the 2013 WSOP Europe, took a roughly 5-to-3 chip advantage into heads-up play, but was unable to convert that to a win and eventually hit the rail in second place, earning $414,104.

In addition to the money and the bracelet Cada also earned 1,080 POY points, enough to see him climb to 91st place in the overall POY standings. Ausmus earned 900 for his second-place showing, and with a title in a Deepstack Extravaganza main event at the Venetian earlier this year already to his name the Las Vegas pro climbed to 34th in the rankings. This was J.C. Tran’s fourth final table of the year, including a win in the WPT Rolling Thunder main event. The 540 points he earned in this event moved him into 10th place in the overall standings. Third-place finisher Max Silver earned 720 points at his third final table of the year, and now sits in 31st place.

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

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