2017 Card Player Player of the Year Race -- February Update

It’s two months down, ten more to go in the 2017 Card Player Player of the Year race, which is brought to you this year by the Commerce Hotel & Casino. February is to some of the biggest events on the live tournament circuit, with a number of massive poker series taking place around North America. Here is a look at the events this past month (including the first weekend of March) that had the biggest impact on the 2017 POY leaderboard:

WPT Swings Through American Northeast and Canadian Southeast

Daniel Weinman captured his first World Poker Tour title and a $892,433 payday on his 29th birthday. The poker pro from Alpharetta, Georgia defeated a field of 1,312 entries to take down the 2017 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event.

In addition to the title and the money, Weinman also earned 1,440 POY points. This was his first final table score of the year, but it was enough on its own to see him shoot up the leaderboard and into 11th place in the overall standings.

The next stop for the World Poker Tour was the WPT Playground, a $3,500 CAD no-limit hold’em main event that attracted a field of 380 entries. In the end Canadian poker pro Ema Zajmovic emerged victorious, capturing the title, the first-place prize equivalent to $200,769 USD and 900 POY points. That was enough to move her inside the top 50 in the rankings.

Zajmovic added her name to the history books as the first female player to ever win a WPT open field main event, a feat which had not yet been accomplished in the tour’s 15 seasons.

The WPT’s jaunt through the American Northeast and Canadian Southeast wrapped up with the a visit to Niagara Falls. Darren Elias outlasted a field of 489 entries to emerge victorious in the 2017 WPT Fallswview Poker Classic $5,000 CAD buy-in no-limit hold’em main event.

In addition to the $449,484 CAD ($335,436 USD) and the trophy Elias also earned a place in the history books with this win, his record-tying third in a WPT main event. Elias now joins Anthony Zinno, Chino Rheem, Gus Hansen and Carlos Mortensen as the fifth player to capture three WPT titles in the tour’s 15-year run.

This was Elias first POY-qualified score of the year, but it was large enough to catapult him into a tie for 11th place in the standings with 1,440 points, joining Weinman in sharing that position.

Triton Super High Roller Series Manila

Tournament poker’s top players made their way to the Philippines in late February for the 2017 Triton Super High Roller Series Manila at the Solaire Resort and Casino.

The series was centered around two massive events. The first was a 250,000 HKD ($32,213 USD) buy-in super high roller that drew a field of 43 entries. In the end Daniel Colman came out on top, defeating Erik Seidel heads-up for the title. Colman earned $473,408 and 420 POY points as the champion.

This was Colman’s third final table finish of the year already, having placed third in the PokerStars Championship Bahamas $100,000 super high roller and fourth in the $50,000 buy-in event at the same series. He was not yet done with high roller success, though, as another deep run was only a few weeks away for Colman.

The second huge event held in Manila was a 1,000,000 HKD ($128,850 USD) super high roller. A total of 39 entries were made in the huge event, building a prize pool equivalent to $4,815,570.

In the end German poker pro Koray Aldemir emerged victorious, capturing the title and the first-place prize of $10,032,869 HKD ($1,304,273 USD). Bryn Kenney finished fourth for $506,090 and 300 points. It was his sixth final table finish of the year already. Like Colman, Kenney was anything but done racking up POY points. (For more info on how Kenney, Colman and others added to their resumes check out the Aria High Rollers section below.)

WPT L.A. Poker Classic

A total of 521 entries were made in the 2017 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Clasic $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, building a prize pool of more than $5 million. From the huge sea of tables at the Commerce Hotel & Casino it came down to a stacked final table that included the likes of WSOP bracelet winners Jesse Martin, Simeon Naydenov and none other than the WPT’s own Mike Sexton.

In the end Southern California native Daniel Strelitz emerged victorious, capturing the title and the first place prize of $1,001,110. Strelitz was also awarded 2,100 POY points as the champion, enough to see him move into fourth place on the overall leaderboard.

The event was so large that both runner-up Simeon Naydenov and third-place finisher Jared Griener also joined the POY top 20 as a result of their deep runs in this event. Poker Hall of Famer and 2016 WPT Montreal main event champion Mike Sexton climbed to 32nd place in the standings as a result of his fourth-place showing.

Aria High Rollers

Every month the Aria Poker Room in Las Vegas plays host to a series of high-stakes tournaments. A total of 33 entries were made in the $25,000 Aria High Roller 52, creating a prize pool of $792,000. The top five players made the money in this tournament, with the largest payout of $364,320 going to eventual champion Jake Schindler. This was his second final table of the year, having finished sixth in a $1,600 no-limit hold’em event in the Ventian DeepStack Extravaganza I just over a week earlier. As the winner of this event Schindler scored 420 POY points.

Third-place finisher Bryn Kenney earned $110,880 and 280 points. This was his seventh final table of the year, but it would not be his last.

The second $25,00 event, the Aria High Roller 53, attracted 31 entries to create a $744,000 prize pool. Once again the top five finishers made the money, and once again Bryn Kenney found himself at a final table. This time he finished fourth for $66,960 and 210 POY points. With eight final tables, 2,196 total points and $2,458,121 in year-to-date earnings Kenney now sits in third place on the overall POY leaderboard, which is presented in 2017 by Commerce Hotel & Casino.

Although Kenney’s accomplishment was impressive, it was Dan Colman who emerged victorious with the title in the end. This was his second title of the year after having won in Manila. For this latest win he earned $342,240 and 420 points. With 1,546 points and $1,916,548 in earnings so far in 2017 Colman now occupies the eighth-place spot in the POY rankings.

The final event of the weekend was the $50,000 buy-in Aria Super High Roller 16. With 24 total entries the tournament built a $1,152,000 prize pool. In the end 2016 Super High Roller Bowl champion Rainer Kempe returned to the winner’s circle at Aria, capturing the title and the top prize of $576,000.

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

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