Card Player 2008 Player of the Year Criteria Updated

When the players speak, Card Player listens. Card Player recently posted the official criteria for the 2008 Player of the Year (POY) competition, and some readers and players suggested improvements to two areas in the points system.

These suggestions involved adjusting buy-in and entrant ranges that had the potential to award the winners of two very different tournaments the same number of points.

Card Player has decided to revise the points system as shown below.

The revisions give tournaments with a buy-in between $5,000 and $9,999 an additional point-factor over tournaments in the $2,500 to $4,999 range. Also, tournaments with between 1000 and 1999 players now will receive an additional point-factor over tournaments with between 395 and 999 entrants.

The complete set of rules for the 2008 POY are as follows (the revised ranges are shown in bold):

2008 POY Scoring Criteria

Tournaments that count in the Player of the Year standings will be listed in Card Player magazine each issue. Events must meet all criteria to qualify.

• Events in a tournament series with at least $750,000 in the overall prize pool or single events with at least $250,000 in the prize pool
• Events with at least 60 players
• Events with at least a $300 buy-in
• 2007 brick-and-mortar (land-based) casino Player of the Year events with at least a $300 buy-in and at least 60 players
• Invitational events must have at least $500,000 in the prize pool
• International events must have at least $1.5 million in the prize pool (The following international events will automatically qualify: EPT main events, APPT main events, Aussie Millions main events, and WSOPE main events)
• Online events with a prize pool of more than $5,000,000 (only players who release their real names -- with site verification -- will receive points)
• Second-chance events do not count

There are three criteria when calculating points:

1. Place finished

• For stud events, the final eight will receive points.
• For sixhanded events, the final six will receive points.
• For heads-up events with up to 64 entrants, the top four will receive points; for 65-128 players, the top eight will receive points; for 129-plus entrants, the top 16 will receive points
• For all other game types, the final nine will receive points.
• In events with at least a $10,000 buy-in, the top 27 receive points will normally receive points. The exceptions are for stud, wherein the top 24 receive points, and sixhanded events, wherein the top 18 receive points.

2. Amount of the buy-in
3. Number of entrants

Total points are calculated by multiplying the point factors of the three criteria. Here is a hypothetical total point calculation example: You finished in eighth place in a $500 buy-in event that had 200 entrants. You receive 20 points for eighth place; the buy-in is $500, which is a 1-point event; and there are 200 entrants, which is good for 2 points. Thus, you receive 40 total points (20 x 1 x 2 = 40).

The breakdown of the point-distribution is as follows:

Place finished: first place receives 120 points; second place, 100; third place, 80; fourth place, 60; fifth place, 50; sixth place, 40; seventh place, 30; eighth place, 20; ninth place, 10. In events with at least a $10,000 buy-in, the entire second table receives 6 points and the entire third table receives 3 points. In heads-up events with 64 entrants, first place receives 120 points; second place, 100; semi-finalists, 60 points. In heads-up events with 65-128 entrants, first place receives 120 points; second place, 100; semi-finalists, 60 points; quarter-finalists, 20 points. In heads-up events with 129-plus entrants, first place receives 120 points; second place, 100; semi-finalists, 60 points; quarter-finalists, 20 points; places nine through 16, 6 points.

Note: If there is a tie between two or more players, each receives the average number of points available. For example, if two players tie for ninth place, each receives half of the ninth-place points. Players receive points only if they are in the money. If a tournament pays only five places, only the top five players get points.

Buy-in: $300-$999 = 1 point, $1,000-$2,499 = 2 points, $2,500-$4,999 = 3 points, $5,000-$9,999 = 4 points $10,000-$24,999 = 5 points, $25,000 or more = 6 points. The buy-in in rebuy tournaments is calculated by dividing the total gross prize pool by the number of entrants.

Number of entrants: 60-64 = 0.6 point, 65-74 = 0.7 point, 75-84 = 0.8 point, 85-94 = 0.9 point, 95-104 = 1 point. Every 10 additional number of entrants increases the number of points by 0.1 up to 3.9, with the number of entrants rounded to the nearest 10. 395-999 entrants = 4 points, 1,000-1,999 = 5 points, 2,000-3,999 entrants = 6 points, 4,000-plus entrants = 7 points. The maximum number of points is 7. Examples are: 57 players = 0 points, 72 players = 0.7 points, 132 players = 1.3 points, 135 players = 1.4 points, 382 players = 3.8 points, 650 players = 4 points, 8,565 players = 7 points.

Related Articles

Save With Card Player Holiday Subscription Special

Save With Card Player Holiday Subscription Special

Save With Card Player Magazine's Subscription Special

Most Viewed Articles