2002 Player of the Year Criteria

Congratulations to Men "The Master" Nguyen for winning the 2001 Player of the Year award.

For the last five years, Card Player has published an annual article naming its (tournament) Player of the Year according to objective, pre-established criteria. This feature has become so popular that in 2001, updated standings were published in each and every issue.

This year we are taking it a step further and have developed a program to make updated standings available on the Card Player website at www.cardplayer.com. Additionally, anyone can sort through the database there to obtain any daily updated Player of the Year information desired.

This year, a couple of subtle changes have been made to make the criteria even better. I must say that not much tweaking has been necessary. In each of the last two years, the Player of the Year award has come down to the final table of the championship event at the last major tournament of the year.

The comprehensive 2002 Player of the Year criteria will appear in the next issue. However, here is a list of what is new.

• Number of players weight – Formerly between 1 and 3 points, now between 1 and 4 points

• Buy-in amount weight – Formerly 1, 2, or 3 points with a few 4 pointers for major championships. This year it is 1 to 4 points with a few 5 pointers for major championships.

• Events – Formerly U.S. tournaments only, but now international events that guarantee $1 million or more to the winner are included. That will include both the Card Player Cruises PartyPoker Million and the Ladbrokes Poker Million.