Global Poker Index: Ole Schemion Ties Mark for Longest Tenure at No. 1
Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player’s results over six half-year periods. The GPI also ranks the top performers of the year over two six-month periods as calculated by the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.
2015 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | 2438.10 | - |
| 2 | Connor Drinan | 2165.00 | - |
| 3 | Nicholas Petrangelo | 2152.17 | - |
| 4 | Ivan Luca | 2119.02 | - |
| 5 | Steve O’Dwyer | 1814.48 | - |
| 6 | Joe Kuether | 1751.76 | - |
| 7 | Ramin Hajiyev | 1714.96 | - |
| 8 | Atanas Kavrakov | 1633.72 | - |
| 9 | Scott Seiver | 1607.54 | - |
| 10 | Vladimir Dobrovolskiy | 1604.74 | - |
Zero movement this week among the top 10 in the 2015 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race with Dzmitry Urbanovich remaining in the top spot for a fourth straight week.
Looking further down the POY rankings the first significant movement for the week comes from Michael Wang who jumped from No. 63 to No. 25 this week after the points he earned for a third-place finish in the 2015 PaddyPower Irish Open were added to his total for the year.
GPI 300 Top 10
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ole Schemion | 4207.86 | - | |
| 2 | Davidi Kitai | 3910.74 | +1 | |
| 3 | Scott Seiver | 3883.00 | -1 | |
| 4 | Pratyush Buddiga | 3794.14 | - | |
| 5 | Stephen Chidwick | 3664.09 | - | |
| 6 | Bryn Kenney | 3555.73 | +1 | |
| 7 | Jason Mercier | 3523.11 | -1 | |
| 8 |
 | Daniel Negreanu | 3492.23 | - |
| 9 | Byron Kaverman | 3473.16 | - | |
| 10 |
| Sorel Mizzi | 3412.58 | - |
It was another relatively quiet week at the top of the overall GPI rankings this week as well, with Davidi Kitai and Scott Seiver trading spots with Kitai moving up to No. 2, while Bryn Kenney and Jason Mercier made a similar exchange with Kenney moving into the No. 6 spot.
The big news, however, concerns Ole Schemion keeping the top spot for a 17th-straight week, thereby tying the all-time mark for longest reign atop the GPI rankings. As we mentioned last week, both Mercier (from May to September 2013) and Dan Smith (from August to December 2014) enjoyed 17-week stays at No. 1, meaning Schemion is poised to claim the record all for himself should he keep at No. 1 one more week.
Welcome to the GPI Top 300
| Rank | Player | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 275 | Joey Weissman | 1603.55 |
| 290 | Salvatore Bonavena | 1568.21 |
| 291 | Georgios Zisimopoulo | 1565.08 |
| 292 | Omar Lakhdari | 1564.04 |
| 293 | Nick Schulman | 1562.76 |
| 294 | Dean Blatt | 1560.43 |
| 296 | Gleb Kovtunov | 1556.68 |
| 297 | Ben Dobson | 1556.32 |
| 298 | Brett Shafer | 1555.57 |
| 299 | Antonio Buonanno | 1554.31 |
Just 10 new players found their way into the overall GPI Top 300 this week, all coming in near the bottom of the list, and none of them Canadian. Joey Weissman is the highest-ranked of the group at No. 275 (up from No. 312) after cashing at the Deep Stack Extravaganza II at the Venetian earlier in the month.
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 291 | Georgios Zisimopoulo | 1565.08 | +96 |
| 296 | Gleb Kovtunov | 1556.68 | +83 |
| 279 | Michael Wang | 1996.94 | +68 |
| 290 | Salvatore Bonavena | 1568.21 | +65 |
| 217 | Jose Quintas | 1787.61 | +62 |
Michael Wang earned a spot among the biggest gainers in the overall GPI rankings this week as well, although Georgios Zisimopoulo was the player moving up the most this week of those inside the Top 300, going from No. 387 to No. 291 after collecting points earned at the European Poker Tour Malta stop where he cashed three times, including winning one side event.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 278 | Jeff Gross | 1598.50 | -56 |
| 258 | Phil Hellmuth | 1665.44 | -49 |
| 144 | Anatoly Filatov | 2055.83 | -48 |
| 215 | Jonas Lauck | 1804.71 | -48 |
| 286 | Tom Dobrilovic | 1580.52 | -47 |
Finally among those keeping their spots in the Top 300 this week, Jeff Gross fell the furthest, going from No. 222 to No. 278. Phil Hellmuth appears on this list again this week as well after slipping from No. 209 to No. 258.
GPI Top 10 Canadians (the #EhTeam)
| Rank | Player | Total Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 |
| Daniel Negreanu | 3,492.23 |
| 10 |
| Sorel Mizzi | 3,412.58 |
| 11 |
| Ami Barer | 3,336.78 |
| 12 |
| Andrew Chen | 3,312.01 |
| 14 |
| Mike Leah | 3,233.55 |
| 18 |
| Jonathan Duhamel | 3,148.35 |
| 20 |
| Mike McDonald | 3,112.64 |
| 78 |
| Sam Greenwood | 2,432.74 |
| 83 |
| Mike Watson | 2,397.15 |
| 106 |
| Max Greenwood | 2,266.84 |
The top end of Team Canada hasn't seen much movement for quite a while now, with Daniel Negreanu holding down the top spot for six weeks now. With Mike McDonald holding on to that No. 20 spot, 20 of the best-ranked poker players in the world include seven Canadians.
On the bottom of the roster, there has been a lot of shuffling from week to week with Shyam Srinivasan popping in and out of the top 10. This week, he lost his spot again and we once again have two of the three Greenwood brothers on the Eh Team, with Max taking Srinivasan's spot and Sam rising above Mike Watson due to some of Watson's older results degrading in value.
To view both the 2015 Player of the Year and GPI overall rankings in their entirety, visit the official GPI website. While you’re at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.
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