2016 Card Player Player of the Year Race Update -- Dietrich Fast Into Third Amid Major Top 20 Shake Up

It was an incredibly busy week in the 2016 Card Player Player of the Year race, with eight players making moves inside the top 20. Here is a look at the events that most impacted the rankings over the past seven days:

WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event

Over the weekend the marquee event of the 2016 L.A. Poker Classic festival came to a close. The $10,000 buy-in World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic no-limit hold’em main event drew a sizable fiend of 515 players to create a $4,944,000 prize pool and a huge amount of Player of the Year points to be awarded.

Germany’s Dietrich Fast emerged victorious in the end, topping a tough final table to win his first WPT title, the $1,000,800 top prize and a whopping 2,100 POY points. This was his second final table finish of the year and was enough to catapult him into third place in the overall standings with 2,210 total points so far and year-to-date live tournament earnings of $1,006,680.

Fast defeated reigning WPT Legends of Poker main event champion Mike Shariati heads-up for the title. Shariaiti took down that huge tournament at the Bicycle Casino and Hotel last fall. This was his first final table finish of 2016, but the $656,540 and 1,750 POY points he earned for his deep run were enough to move him into 10th place in the rankings on their own.

Third-place finisher Alex Keating earned $423,890 and 1,400 points and joined EPT Dublin runner-up Gilles Bernies in a tie for 20th place place. Sam Soverel finished fourth for $316,440 and 1,050 points. This was his second final table of the year, having won a $25,000 high roller at Aria in january.

Aria $25,000 High Rollers XXVII and XXVI

The Aria Resort & Casino played host to another set of $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller events this past week. The Aria High Roller XXVI drew a solid turnout of 45 entries to build a $1,080,000 prize pool. 2010 Card Player Player of the Year winner Thomas Marchese came out on top in the end, defeating a stacked final table to win $369,410 and 420 POY points. This was his second title of the year, with his first also coming at the Aria in another $25,000 high roller in January. He now sits in 46th place in the POY standings.

Igor Kurganov finished third for $140,400 and 280 points. The German high roller star now has four final tables and one title to his name in 2016 and currently occupies the 24th-place spot. Anthony Gregg finished fourth for $86,400 and 210 points. This was his fourth final table of the year, including his runner-up showing in the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event for $612,175 and 1,520 points. He now sits in fourth place on the leader board with 2,090 points and $844,455 in earnings on the year.

The second event, the Aria High Roller XXVII, drew 44 entries. Bryn Kenney came out on top for his second title and sixth final table finish of the year. With 1,630 points and $2,463,992 in year-to-date earnings Kenney now occupies the lucky 13th-place spot in the standings.

WSOP Circuit Bally’s Main Event

The 2016 World Series of Poker Circuit Bally’s $1,675 no-limit hold’em main event, drew a huge field of 1,214 entries, easily outstripping the $1 million guaranteed prize pool by over $800,000.

In the end Jason Wheeler outlasted that huge turnout to capture the $323,236 top prize, his first WSOP Circuit gold ring and 960 POY points. This was his fifth final table of the year and his second title, having won a prelim at the European Poker Tour Dublin in February. As a result of his impressive run early in the year he has climbed into 12th place in the overall POY standings with 1,704 total points and year-to-date earnings of $429,603.

Fourth-place finisher Anthony Spinella was fresh off a sixth-place showing in the WPT LAPC main event, adding another $111,081 and 480 points to his 2016 totals. As a result he has moved into 30th place in the rankings. Other notable finishers at the final table include Nipun java (8th – $40,026), Michael Rocco (7th – $50,806), Mike Leah (6th – $65,246), Jaime Rosen (3rd – $147,009) and Lisa Hamilton (2nd – $200,310).

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

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