2015 Card Player Player of the Year Update — Zinno Extends Lead, Mercier Into Third

The past seven days have been some of the most-action packed to date in the 2015 Card Player Player of the Year race, with six players making major moves inside the top twenty as a result of scores at the World Series of Poker and the Hollywood Poker Open. Here’s a look at the events that most impacted the standings:

2015 WSOP $3,000 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em

Justin Liberto topped a sizable field of 1,043 players in the 2015 World Series of Poker $3,000 six-max no-limit hold’em, capturing his first gold bracelet and the $640,711 first-place prize.

The 26-year-old poker pro from Baltimore, MD also earned 1,440 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his second title and fifth final table score of the year, having won a $580 no-limit hold’em event at the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Baltimore series earlier this year.

As a result of his impressive results he has climbed into 12th place in the overall POY standings with 2,488 points and $857,908 earned to date. Liberto now has $1,652,262 in lifetime live tournament earnings. His career really got jumpstarted in 2013 when he finished fourth in the inaugural Millionaire Maker event at the WSOP.

2015 WSOP $5,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em

The 2015 WSOP $5,000 turbo no-limit hold’em event drew 454 players looking for fast-paced tournament action, building a prize pool of $2,133,800. After only two days of play a champion was decided, and that player was none other than Kevin MacPhee.

The 34-year-old poker pro earned the $490,800 first-place prize, his first WSOP gold bracelet and 1,440 POY points for the win. This was his second final table of the year, and as a result he moved into 28th place in the overall standings with 1,980 total points.

MacPhee defeated Igor Yaroshevskyy heads-up for the title. The Ukrainian has made a total of four final tables in 2015, including a fourth-place finish in the massive World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 main event, taking home $333,680 and 1,050 points. He also won a €10,200 six-max no-limit hold’em prelim at the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo. His most recent score earned him $303,767 and 1,200 points, catapulting him into sixth place in the rankings with 3,030 points and $991,139 in year-to-date earnings.

2015 Hollywood Poker Open $2,500 Main Event

The 2015 Hollywood Poker Open Championship $2,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event at the M Resort Spa and Casino in Las Vegas attracted a field of 684 entrants to easily surpass the $500,000 guarantee, ending with a total prize pool of $1,542,420.

In the end Keven Stammen emerged victorious with the title, the $347,045 first-place prize and 1,260 POY points. This was Stammen’s fifth final table finish of 2015 and it brought his point total to 2,516 for the year, enough to see him climb to 11th place on the POY leader board.

The final table featured a number of notable pros such as Joe Serock (2nd), Alex Keating (3rd) and Esther Taylor-Brady (5th).

2015 WSOP $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship

The 2015 WSOP $10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship event drew an impressive turnout of 386 players to build a total prize pool of $3,637,800. The prestigious tournament resulted in a stacked final table, including the likes of three-time WSOP bracelet winner Jason Mercier, poker triple crown winner Davidi Kitai, two-time 2015 bracelet winner Shaun Deeb and tournament superstar Dan Smith, looking for his first win at the Series.

In the end it was Alexander Petersen who came out on top, taking home $927,655 and 1,500 POY points for the win. The Dane climbed to 66th place in the POY race on the merits of this huge win alone.

Petersen defeated Mercier heads-up, denying him his second bracelet of the summer. For his runner-up showing Mercier earned $572,989 and 1,250 points. This was his fifth final table finish of the year, including a win in the $5,000 six-max no-limit hold’em earlier at the Series. As a result he rose to third in the POY ranks, with 3,520 total points and $1,369,206 in year-to-date earnings.

Dan Smith earned $369,564 and 1,000 points as the third place finisher. This was his sixth final table of 2015, having won a €5,200 no-limit hold’em prelim at the EPT Grand Final in May. Smith finished runner up in the 2012 POY race behind Greg Merson, and is now within striking distance of improving on that impressive result, sitting in 19th place with 2,228 points and $863,732 in year-to-date earnings.

2015 WSOP $111,111 One Drop High Roller

The second ever running of the $111,111 buy-in One Drop High Roller at the WSOP drew a field of 135 entries to build a gigantic prize pool of $14,249,925. The tournament featured turbo-like structure and lasted only two days. Roughly 36 hours after the first card was dealt it was all over and 2010 world champion Jonathan Duhamel once again emerged victorious. The Canadian pro earned his second gold bracelet, the $3,989,985 first-place prize and 1,320 POY points for the win.

Duhamel had already won one event in 2015, a $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em prelim at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $116,738 and 480 points. With these two titles he has climbed to 42nd place in the overall standings.

Of course he was not the only player to make a move on the leader board as a result of this huge event. Most notably, seventh-place finisher Anthony Zinno earned $565,864 and 330 POY points for his ninth final table finish of the year.

Zinno has won three titles in 2015, including the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 main event for $1,015,860 and 2,100 points, the WPT Fallsview Classic main event for $252,420 and 1,440 points and the $25,000 high roller at the Bay 101 Shooting Star for another $197,758 and 420 points.

All told Zinno has accumulated 5,396 points and year-to-date earnings of $2,296,131 in just over half a year. To put that into perspective, the last three Player of the Year winners put together point totals of 5,498 (Dan Colman), 5,140 (Daniel Negreanu) and 5,100 (Greg Merson) over an entire year.

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