2015 Card Player Player of the Year Update -- EPT Barcelona Prelims Shake Up Top 20

The European Poker Tour Barcelona preliminary events have had a big impact on the Card Player Player of the Year race. Here is a look at the tournaments that most effected the 2015 POY standings over the past seven days:

EPT Barcelona €50,000 High Roller

A record turnout of 99 entries came out for the 2015 EPT Barcelona €50,000 High Roller to build a prize pool equivalent to $5,429,906 USD. As you’d expect, the field was a who’s-who of tournament poker’s elite players. In the end 2013 WSOP main event fourth place finisher Sylvain Loosli emerged victorious. For the win the Frenchman was awarded ($1,419,840 USD) and 918 Player of the Year points. This was his fourth final table of the year, all coming in EPT Prelims, and asa result of his success on that tour he has climbed to 65th place in the overall POY standings.

Loosli was far from the only player to make a move in the POY standings as a result of this event. Dzmitry Urbanovich finished as the runner-up, earning $976,140 and 765 POY points. This was the Polish pro’s tenth final table of the year, with four titles won along the way. With a total of 3,363 points and $3,544,555 in year-to-date earnings Urbanovich has climbed into sixth place on the POY leaderboard.

The sixth-place finisher in this event was Ivan Luca, who earned $325,380 and 306 points at his seventh final table. The Argentinian has two titles this year, including his first bracelet win in a $1,000 no-limit hold’em event at the WSOP. With 3,423 POY points and $1,497,915 in year-to-date earnings Luca moved into fifth place in rankings.

Steve O’Dwyer finished seventh for $256,360 and 230 points. This was his fifth final table of the year, with his biggest score being a win in the $100,000 super high roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for more than $1.8 million. He now occupies the 13th-place slot in the standings with 2,646 and $2,968,143 in to-date earnings in 2015.

Byron Kaverman was already in fourth place in the overall POY standings, but he did add $143,376 and 77 points to his 2015 total with a ninth-place finish in this event. He now has 3,657 and $2,161,434 in earnings for the year.

EPT Barcelona Estrellas Poker Tour €1,100 Main Event

The kickoff event of the EPT Barcelona festival was the Estrellas Poker Tour €1,100 no-limit hold’em main event. The event drew an absolutely massive field of 3,292 entries to build a prize pool equivalent to $3,692,695 USD.

Argentina’s Mario Javier Lopez came out on top in the end, winning $473,280 and 1,200 points. He had previously finished second in the $1,111 Little One For One Drop event at the WSOP for $399,455 and 1,100 as well, and now sits in 25th place in the POY standings as a result.

Fourth-place finisher Jose Carlos Garcia earned $161,820 and 600 points at his fifth final table of the year to climb to 23rd place in the rankings himself.

EPT Barcelona €2,150 No-Limit Hold’em Eight-Max

The final EPT Barcelona prelim that made waves near the top of the POY rankings was a €2,150 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. The tournament itself was not particularly large, drawing only 114 entries to build a total prize pool of $255,639 USD.

Ville Mattila took it down, earning $64,542 and 240 points. The most notable POY contender at the final table though was Adrian Mateos Diaz, who finished third for $28,350 and 160 points.

The young Spanish pro has made four final tables in total this year so far, including a win in the EPT Grand Final €10,600 buy-in main event at the end of the tour’s previous season in May. For that win he earned $1,211,836 and 2,100 POY points.

With this most recent score Diaz has climbed to 16th place in the overall standings with 2,536 total points and $1,305,155 in earnings.

Here is a look at the current top 20 in the Player of the Year standings:

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