2016 Card Player Player of the Year -- Engel, Andrejevic, Aldemir and Davies Climb

Florida has played a key role in determining many presidential races in recent decades. This month the state played host to the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, a massive poker tournament festival that could be key in shaping this year’s Card Player Player of the Year_ race. In this article we will take a look at the events that wrapped up this week in Hollywood, FL that most impacted the 2016 POY leaderboard.

2016 SHRPO $5 Million Guaranteed Championship

The 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $5 Million guaranteed $5,250 championship event drew 847 entries, falling short of the guarantee by roughly $750,000. The Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood put up the sizable overlay, making this huge event a great value.

In the end Jason Koon emerged victorious, capturing the largest title of his career, the $1,000,000 first-place prize and 1,824 Player of the Year points. Koon was catapulted into 38th place in the overall standings as a result. This was his second title of the year, having won a $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller at the Bellagio in July for and $514,080 and 504 points.

Koon defeated Seth Davies heads-up for the win. Davies earned $575,000 and 1,520 points at this third final table of 2016. Davies’ other two big scores came in title runs. He started off 2016 with a win in the WPT Canadian Spring Classic $3,500 CAD for $226,893 and 1,080 points. Earlier this week Davies took down a SHRPO $1,1000 no-limit hold’em six-max event for $41,604 and 336 points.As a result of his strong run in Florida Davies now sits in 17th place in the standings with 2,936 points and $843,497 in year-to-date earnings.

2016 SHRPO $25,500 NLH High Roller

A total of 105 entries were made in the $25,500 SHRPO no-limit hold’em high roller, blowing away the $1 million guarantee to build a final prize pool of $2,625,000.

Marvin Rettenmaier emerged victorious to capture the title, the $787,497 top prize and 840 POY points. This was his second final table finish of the year and was enough to move him into 194th place in the overall standings. He defeated 2014 Card Player Player of the Year winner Dan Colman heads-up for the title. This was his third final table of the year and he now sits just outside of the top 200 in the rankings.

Nick Petrangelo earned $190,313 and 420 points as the fourth place finisher. He has made eight final tables in 2016 and now sits in 23rd place on the leaderboard. He finished third in the POY race last year and is now within striking distance of improving on that incredible showing.

Andjelko Andrejevic finished eighth for $89,250 and 140 points. The Serbian-born pro has won two huge titles this year, including the $3,500 CPPT Venetian no-limit hold’em event and the €3,300 WPT Amsterdam main event.As a result Andrejevic now sits in 13th place in the overall standings, with 3,212 points and $1,303,997 in earnings so far in 2016.

2016 SHRPO $2,650 No-Limit Hold’em

In addition to the championship and the high roller event the SHRPO also hosted two smaller buy-in tournaments as part of their “Big4” events that all played out their final tables simultaneously. The $1 million guaranteed $2,650 no-limit hold’em event had 529 entries, creating a $1,282,825 prize pool.

Bradley Snider outlasted the rest, earning $246,400 and 1,260 for the win. He defeated a tough final table that included the likes of Dermot Blain (2nd – $147,800), Koray Aldemir (4th – $73,900) and Dan Heimiller (7th – $37,000).

German pro Aldemir exploded onto the live tournament scene this summer with a runner-up showing in the $1,500 WSOP Summer Solstice event and then followed that up with a third-place finish in the $111,111 WSOP One Drop High Roller event for $2,154,265 and 1,120 points. As a result of his score in Florida he has moved into 16th place on the POY leaderboard.

2016 SHRPO $1,650 NLH Heads-Up

One event that was not part of the “Big4” but did end up making a small impact on the Player of the Year race was the 2016 SHRPO $1,650 no-limit hold’em heads-up event. The tournament, which was capped at 64 entrants, built a $96,000 prize pool.

Ari Engel defeated Aaron Mermelstein heads-up for the title. This was his his third title of the year at his 11th final table. For the win he earned $28,800 and 144 POY points. Engel got 2016 off on the right foot when he took down the Aussie Millions $10,000 AUD main event for $1,120,000 and 2,280. He spent much of the year as the outright leader in the race before being overtaken by Fedor Holz in June. He now sits in ninth place in the overall standings with 3,446 points and year-to-date earnings of $1,258,291.

Mermelstein was awarded $19,200 and 120 as the runner up in this event. He has made four final tables in 2016, accumulating 2,700 POY points and $521,705 in cashes along the way. His biggest scores this year are a pair of second-place finishes in the Borgata Spring Poker Open $2,700 main event and the $2,500 Hollywood Poker Open Championship.

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

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