Criteria for 2009 Card Player Poker Player of the Year Announced

The Card Player Player of the Year race bestows one of poker's most sought-after titles every year, and with 2009's first major tournament series in full swing (check out our coverage of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure), it's high time to release the updated Player of the Year criteria.

The changes from last year's criteria include an expanded assortment of qualifying international events and a minor tweak to the point multipliers.

For international events, there will no longer be carve-outs for specific events. This year, international tournaments will follow normal POY-qualification requirements except that events must have buy-ins of $1,000 or more to qualify. This opens up the competition to include a lot more overseas events.

As far as the point-multiplier tweak is concerned, events with 2,000-plus entrants now earn a multiplier of 6, making 6 the maximum multiplier for entrants, rather than 7, as it was in 2008.

The Online Player of the Year criteria has been updated, as well. There is only one change for this year's OPOY, but it is a big one — Cake Poker is now a qualifying site. Those interested can read the full details of this update in our previous story on the Cake Poker addition.

The complete set of rules for the 2009 POY is as follows (the revised ranges are shown in bold):


2009 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. Changes from 2008 are indicated in boldface:

• 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 entrants
• Events with a buy-in of at least $300
• 2009 editions of 2008 brick-and-mortar (land-based) casino Player of the Year events; the 2009 editions must have a buy-in of at least $300 and at least 60 entrants
• Invitational events must have at least $500,000 in the prize pool
• International events must have a buy-in of at least $1,000, but will otherwise follow normal POY qualification criteria
• Online events with a prize pool of more than $5 million (only players who release their real names -- with site verification -- will receive points)
• Second-chance events do not qualify

There are three criteria when calculating points:

1. Place finished at the final table

• For stud events, the final eight will receive points.
• For six-handed 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 entrants, 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 a buy-in of at least $10,000, the top 27 will receive points in most tournaments. The top 24 players will receive points for stud events and top 18 will receive points for six-handed events. (Paid places only)

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

Total points are calculated by multiplying the point factors of the three criteria:

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-ins: $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+ entrants = 6 points. The maximum number of points is 6. 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 = 6 points.

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).

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