The 2012 Card Player Player of the Year race, sponsored by Lock Poker, has entered it’s final push. With only weeks left in the year, some of the top contenders in the POY race managed to put up some incredibly last-minute results, and here’s a look:
European Poker Tour Prague Festival
The EPT Prague festival at the Hilton Prague Hotel was the site for much of this late-game push by many of the top contenders.
First came Marvin Rettenmaier’s win in the €10,300 no-limit single re-entry high roller, which earned him €365,300 and 600 POY points, moving him into third in the overall standings with 4,130 and bringing his year-to-date earnings of $2,423,741.
In 2011, Rettenmaier made 12 final tables, finishing the year in fourth place in the standings. Looking at his combined two-year record, he has six-titles, 20 final tables and earnings of over $3 million.
Not long after the young German’s victory, current second-ranked POY contender Dan Smith also found himself in the winners circle after topping a small but tough 42-player field in a €5,000 no-limit hold’em six-max turbo side event. For the win the young American pro earned $89,039 and 240 POY points, climbing to within 60 POY points of current race leader Greg Merson.
This was Smith’s sixth live tournament win of the year, the most of any player in 2012. Also noteworthy is the fact that this was Smith’s fourth win for the year in events with a €5,000 buy-in, three of which were won in just over a week at the EPT Grand Final this spring. Smith has cashed for $3,673,806 in live tournaments, making nine final tables throughout the year.
While top POY contenders won out in side events, the EPT Prague main event also awarded tons of prize money and points. A total of 864 entries were made in the €5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, building a prize pool of €4,190,400.
In the end, Swedish pro Ramzi Jelassi emerged victorious with €835,000 and 1,824 POY points, catapulting him into 63rd place in the overall rankings.
Here is a look at the current top twenty in the POY standings:
| Rank | Player | POY Points | Earnings |
| 1 | Gregory Merson | 5,100 | $9,664,179 |
| 2 | Dan Smith | 5,040 | $3,673,806 |
| 3 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 4,130 | $2,423,741 |
| 4 | Kyle Julius | 3,752 | $2,103,282 |
| 5 | Ole Schemion | 3,676 | $2,032,454 |
| 6 | Joseph Cheong | 3,590 | $1,062,822 |
| 7 | Antonio Esfandiari | 3,330 | $18,990,987 |
| 8 | Phil Hellmuth | 3,210 | $4,293,213 |
| 9 | John Dibella | 3,064 | $1,901,113 |
| 10 | Oliver Speidel | 3,046 | $1,767,371 |
| 11 | Anthony Gregg | 2,984 | $1,004,155 |
| 12 | Michael Mizrachi | 2,942 | $2,155,179 |
| 13 | Ravi Raghavan | 2,835 | $1,501,029 |
| 14 | Vadzim Kursevich | 2,776 | $1,333,689 |
| 15 | Jesse Sylvia | 2,770 | $5,294,344 |
| 16 | Joe Kuether | 2,752 | $550,516 |
| 17 | Faraz Jaka | 2,720 | $1,009,964 |
| 18 | Davidi Kitai | 2,690 | $1,086,561 |
| 19 | David Baker | 2,689 | $700,386 |
| 20 | Noah Schwartz | 2,678 | $1,076,035 |
