2016 Card Player Player of the Year -- Peters and Drinan Join Top Three

There was plenty of movement this week among the top 20 on the 2016 Card Player Player of the Year race leader board, driven by the several massive events at the European Poker Tour Barcelona festival. Here is a look at the tournaments that most impacted the POY standings:

2016 EPT Barcelona €2,200 No-Limit Hold’em

There were a plethora tournaments at the EPT Barcelona that drew massive turnouts, and that trend was not limited to just the marquee main event and high rollers. For example. a €2,200 no-limit hold’em preliminary event attracted 663 entries to build a prize pool equivalent to $1.4 million USD. Goran Mandic came out on top in the end, earning $203,931 USD and 840 Player of the Year points.

Perennial POY contender David Peters finished third for $122,967 and 560 points. This was Peters’ 13th final table finish of 2016 and brought his year-to-date earnings to $4,914,445. He started the year off with a runner-up showing in the $200,000 buy-in WPT Philippines super high roller for 500 points and $2.3 million, the largest score of his career. A month later he finished second in the $250,000 AUD high roller at the Aussie Millions for another $622,465 USD and 500 points.

He has won two titles in 2016, taking down a $25,000 high roller at Bellagio and then winning his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet in $1,500 no-limit event just three days later. Peters topped a field of 1,860 players in that tournament to win $412,557 and 1,080 points.

With 4,891 points earned so far this year Peters now occupies the second-place spot in the POY standings. He is looking to improve on his fourth-place finish in the race in 2013.

2016 EPT Barcelona €10,300 High Roller

Connor Drinan emerged victorious in the EPT Barcelona €10,300 no-limit hold’em high roller event, topping a record field of 591 entries to win the title and the first-place prize of €849,200 ($959,596 USD).

Drinan also scored 2,100 POY points for the win. This was his first title and eighth final table of the year. He has accumulated seven six-figure scores this year. His win this week was his largest cash, with the second largest being his runner-up showing in the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $50,000 high roller event for $870,625 and 680 points.

He shot up the leaderboard and into third place in the overall standings as a result with 4,512 total points and $3,196,592 in year-to-date earnings.

Ari Engel finished fifth in the event for $347,927 and 875 points. The 2016 Aussie Millions main event champion was at his 13th final table of the year. He has cashed for $1,615,365 in 2016, accumulating 4,369 points. After this latest score he climbed to sixth place in the rankings.

2016 EPT Barcelona €10,200 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo Bounty

The EPT Barcelona €10,200 no-limit hold’em turbo bounty event built a field of 70 players. While normally a tournament of this size wouldn’t draw much attention at such a huge festival this event was different because it ended in a stacked final table that included a couple of top POY contenders.

Chance Kornuth finished sixth for $19,515 and 140 points. This was his 11th final table of the year. He has cashed for $2,092,345 so far in 2016, taking home two titles along the way including a win in a $25,000 AUD high roller at the Aussie Millions. With 4,373 points earned Kornuth now occupies the fifth-place slot on the POY leaderboard.

Joining Kornuth at the final table was Nick Petrangelo, who finished seventh for $15,803 and 105 points. Just over a week earlier Petrangelo was taken down a €10,300 no-limit hold’em high roller event for $466,690 and 1,020 points.

All told he has made 10 final tables this year, winning two titles and cashing for $1,923,678 in the process. With 3,711 points he now sits in ninth place in the Player of the Year rankings.

2016 EPT Barcelona €10,300 Pot-Limit Omaha

The EPT Barcelona €10,300 pot-limit Omaha event drew 114 players to build a total prize pool of over $1.2 million.

In the end Alex Manzano came out on top, earning $268,375 and 600 points. Manzano defeated Steve O’Dwyer heads-up for the title.

O’Dwyer was awarded $196,846 and 500 points for his latest deep run. Incredibly he had finished fifth in a single-day $25,500 high roller the day before for $315,157 and 455 points.

O’Dwyer, who finished seventh in the POY race last year, has won two titles and made eight final tables in 2016. He has seven six-figure cashes this year, including a win in the $50,000 high roller event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $945,495 and 816 points. In 2015 and 2016 he has cashed for a combined $7,918,733 in POY-qualified events. With $15,614,071 in career earnings he has climbed to 14th place on the all-time money list.

O’Dwyer’s 3,409 points and year-to-date earnings of $3,368,708 have moved him into 13th place on the POY leaderboard for the moment.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in this event:

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