2015 Card Player Player of the Year -- Joe Kuether, Nick Petrangelo and Byron Kaverman Make Moves Inside Top Five

This was by far the busiest week of the year in terms of movement in the Card Player Player of the Year race. Here is a look at the many tournaments that made the biggest impact on the POY standings over the action-packed past seven days.

WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond

The 2015 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Hammond $1,675 no-limit hold’em main event drew an absolutely massive field of 1,376 entries to build a prize pool in excess of $2 million.

In the end Krzysztof Stybaniewicz came out on top, taking home $356,043 and 960 POY points for the win. He defeated perennial Player of the Year contender Joe Kuether heads-up for the title, sending the Wisconsin native home with $220,848 and 800 points.

This was Kuether’s 11th final-table finish of 2015, which has him tied for the third-most final table score of the year with current POY race leader Anthony Zinno. As a result of this latest deep run he has overtaken Nick Petrangelo for the number two spot on the POY leaderboard and is now just 975 points away from taking the top spot.

Kuether has accumulated 5,658 total points and year-to-date earnings of $1,986,272 in 2015. He has two titles this year, one coming in a $2,500 prelim at the Borgata Spring Poker Open and the other in the $1 million guaranteed $1,100 main event of the Deepstack Extravaganza III at the Venetian.

WSOP Europe Main Event

Kevin MacPhee emerged victorious in the 2015 World Series of Poker Europe €10,450 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, topping a field of 313 players to win his second gold bracelet and the first-place prize of €883,000.

The Coeur’D Alene, ID native also earned 1,200 Player of the Year points for the win. This was his fifth final table appearance of the year and his second title, having won the $5,000 turbo no-limit hold’em event at this summer’s WSOP. He topped a field of 454 players in that event to win $490,800 and 1,440 POY points.

MacPhee has climbed to eighth place in the overall POY standings as a result of this huge win, with 3,560 total points and year-to-date earnings of $1,736,841.

2015 POY contender Erik Seidel also made the final table of this event, finishing seventh for $110,175 and 300. This was the eight-time bracelet winner’s tenth final table of the year, and with 2,960 points and earnings of $4,691,573 in 2015 he has moved into a tie with Javier Zarco for 16th place.

WSOP Europe €25,600 High Roller

Jonathan Duhamel found his way to the winners circle yet again, this time taking down the 2015 World Series of Poker Europe €25,600 no-limit hold’em high roller event to win his third career WSOP gold bracelet and the €554,395 first-place prize.

This was Duhamel’s second bracelet win this year. Earlier this year the 2010 WSOP main event champion topped a huge field of 135 players in the $111,111 buy-in One Drop High Roller event at the series to win $3,989,985.

In addition to the hardware and the money this most recent win also awarded him 504 POY points. The Canadian has four total titles this year and five final table finishes. With 2,856 POY points and year-to-date earnings of $4,811,811 Duhamel has climbed into 20th place in the Player of the Year standings.

Mustapha Kanit finished third for $249,962 and 336 points. This was his seventh final table of the year. With 3,860 points and earnings of $2,259,859 the Italian now sits in sixth place in the POY standings.

EPT Malta €25,750 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller

The €25,750 no-limit hold’em high roller drew 74 total entries to create a total prize pool of €1,813,000.

The top 11 finishers made the money and as you might expect there were plenty of recognizable faces in the mix. 2015 Card Player Player of the Year contenders Byron Kaverman finished fifth for €141,415 and 245 POY points. This was his 14th final table of the year, the most of any player on the circuit. As a result he climbed to fourth place in the standings.

Just ahead of Kaverman on the leaderboard is Nick Petrangelo, who finished third in this event for €232,065 and 392 points. This was his tenth final table and it brought his year-to-date earnings to $2,347,061. With 5,526 POY points to his name he now occupies the number three spot in the POY race.

In the end Mike McDonald came out on top in this event, defeating Juha Helppi heads-up to capture his 10th career live tournament title and the €498,575 first-place prize.

EPT Malta €10,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller

With 99 entries and 35 re-entries the €10,200 “single-day” no-limit hold’em event built a total prize of €1,299,800. Steve O’Dwyer came out on top, earning his 13th career live tournament title and the €327,030 first-place prize.

O’Dwyer topped a stacked final table that included the likes of Isaac Haxton (4th – €118,930), Jason Wheeler (3rd – €143,630) and Ilari Sahamies (2nd – €220,970).

This was his seventh final table finish of 2015 and his third POY-qualified title win of the year, having taken down the $100,000 high roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and a prelim at the APPT Macau Poker Cup.

As a result of this latest title he climbed to ninth place in the overall standings with 3,531 points and $3,377,154 in year-to-date earnings.

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

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