2016 Card Player Player of the Year -- Benjamin Zamani Joins The Top 20

As the 2016 Card Player Player of the Year race moves into October time is starting to run thin, with less than three months remaining. A few players made big strides this week as the clock starts ticking. Here is a look at the events that most impacted the standings:

2016 WPT Maryland Live! Main Event

A total of 554 entries were made in the 2016 World Poker Tour Maryland Live! $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event, easily surpassing the $1.5 million guarantee to build a final prize pool of $1,772,800.

In the end the lion’s share of that money was awarded to Zachary Smiley, who topped a tough final table to capture his first major live tournament title and the $356,536 and 1,260 POY points.

Fifth-place finisher Benjamin Zamani was at his fourth final table of 2016. This was his fourth final-table finish of the year and it earned him another $85,429 and 525 points. He had already made two previous WPT final tables this year, finishing as the runner up in both the the WPT Choctaw and the WPT Legends of Poker main event. With 3,015 points and $868,843 in year-to-date earnings he has climbed to 19th place in the POY standings.

Darren Elias finished fourth for $113,905 and 630 points. This was his fifth final table, with his largest score being a third-place showing in the $3,500 $3 million guaranteed Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza III for $298,362 and 960 points. With 2,316 points and $603,960 in to-date earnings Elias now sits in 49th place in the rankings.

WPT Maryland Live! Preliminary Events

Cate Hall was the sixth-place finisher in the WPT Maryland Live! main event, earning $68,554 and 420 POY points for her second final table finish in this tournaments two-year history.

She made a total of three final tables during the WPT Maryland Live! series. She started off her nice week with a fifth-place finish in the $500 buy-in no-limit hold’em preliminary event for Cate Hall $4,830 and 60 points.

The very next day she place second in the $1,100 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed no-limit hold’em event, cashing for $27,225 and earning another 240 points.

With five final table finishes, 888 points and year-to-date earnings of $170,423 Hall now sits in 344th place. Her first recorded live tournament score came in early 2015 and already she has accumulated $648,298 in career earnings.

2016 Eureka Poker Tour Hamburg

The €1,100 Eureka Poker Tour Hamburg no-limit hold’em main event drew a field of 367 entries to build a prize pool equivalent to $400,000 USD.

In the end Dinesh Alt came out on top with the title, scoring $77,414 and 600 POY points for the win.

George Danzer finished ninth for $7,616 and 50 points. The German poker pro has now made three POY-qualified final tables in 2016, including winning his third WSOP gold bracelet in the $10,000 seven card stud eight-or-better championship event for $338,646 and 660 points.

Danzer now has 1,030 points earned on the year, enough to move him into 254th place in the standings.

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

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