Global Poker Index: Sam Chartier Takes a Hit and Sorel Mizzi Climbs to No. 3

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player’s results over six half-year periods. For a look at the entire list, visit the official GPI website. Here’s a look at the rankings as of November 25, 2015.

GPI Top 10 Canadians (the #EhTeam)

Canadian Rank	Global Rank		Player	Total Score
1	12		Jonathan Duhamel	3,570.98
2	20		Mike McDonald	3,452.77
3	42		Sorel Mizzi	3,102.57
4	44		Sam Greenwood	3,084.60
5	45		Daniel Negreanu	3,075.24
6	46		Mike Leah	3,051.98
7	65		Mike Watson	2,659.50
8	95		Ami Barer	2,406.30
9	106		Daniel Dvoress	2,312.26
10	113		Andrew Chen	2,283.94

There have been only a few minor changes to the Team Canada roster this week. Jonathan Duhamel remains in the top spot and Mike McDonald continues to hold on to No. 2 in the country. However, Sorel Mizzi finished seventh in the WSOP Circuit High Roller in Las Vegas to scoop up a few points and leap over Daniel Negreanu, Mike Leah, and Sam Greenwood, landing squarely in third place.

We also saw Sam Chartier drop off the top 10 due to older results losing value, making way for Daniel Dvoress to move up a spot and Andrew Chen to earn the No. 10 seat.

2015 GPI Player of the Year

There was zero movement among the top 10 for the week in the 2015 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race during a quiet period in the tournament schedule. Byron Kaverman remains the frontrunner with one month left to go in the POY race, enjoying a fourth-straight week on top.

Looking down the POY list, Georgios Zisimopoulos jumped from No. 68 to No. 41 after making a couple of final tables at the recently completed Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam.

The closest Canadian is, of course, Jonathan Duhamel who sits in No. 21

GPI 300 Top 10

Kaverman stays on top once again in the overall GPI rankings this week, his ninth-straight week at No. 1. Meanwhile both Davidi Kitai and Erik Seidel rejoined the overall top 10, each moving up three spots this week to claim Nos. 9 and 10, respectively.

Jonathan Duhamel sits just outside the top 10 in No. 12 as the world's best Canadian player.

Welcome to the GPI Top 300

Rank		Player	Total Score
231		Mike Dentale	1825.72
236		Timothy Adams	1818.28
262		Tobias Peters	1778.17
273		Joey Weissman	1756.19
292		Justin Oliver	1732.22
297		Riley Fuller	1721.71
298		Justin Schwartz	1720.12

Seven players moved up in the rankings to join the overall top 300 this week, including two Canadians. American Mike Dentale was the highest-ranked of the group after jumping from No. 355 to No. 231. An eighth-place finish at the partypoker World Poker Tour Montreal at the Playground Poker Club helped Dentale make his upward move.

Dentale will be moving up still more next week for certain, thanks to his victory in the Borgata Fall Poker Open Championship late Wednesday night. Dentale topped a field of 557 to earn a handsome $336,311 prize in that one.

Also joining the top 300 this week is Justin Schwartz, 14th-place finisher in the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event. Schwartz final-tabled the $3,250 High Roller event at the WSOP Circuit Planet Hollywood festival last week, finishing fourth to go from No. 397 up to No. 298.

Timothy Adams was one of the new Canadians to make the top 300 after he found an 18th-place finish in the Masters Classics of Poker which was just enough to bump him up to No. 236.

Joining him in the 300 is Las Vegas-residing Canadian Justin Oliver. Despite being mostly a cash-game player in Sin City, this bracelet winner snuck into No. 292 after finishing 10th in a $1,600 DeepStack Extravaganza event at The Venetian.

Biggest Gains

Rank		Player	Total GPI Score	Change
231		Michael Dentale	1825.72	+124
298		Justin Schwartz	1720.12	+99
236		Timothy Adams	1818.28	+93
273		Joey Weissman	1756.19	+86
183		Jussi Nevanlinna	2001.48	+85

Of those inside the top 300, Dentale and Schwartz were the biggest gainers this week thanks to those recent scores. Timothy Adams also made a big upward move from No. 329 to No. 236 after cashing in the Master Classics of Poker Main Event where he took 18th, as mentioned above.

Biggest Drops

Rank		Player	Total GPI Score	Change
277		Phillip Hui	1748.78	-55
281		Andy Frankenberger	1744.75	-50
268		Charles Chattha	1765.08	-40
293		Ben Vinson	1729.85	-40
130		Sam Chartier	2209.25	-37

Looking at who fell the furthest this week among those still ranked in the top 300, Phillip Hui took the biggest tumble after going from No. 222 to No. 277.

Sam Chartier's tumble saw him drop out of Canada's top 10, and that was due to some of his older results degrading in value, including his final-table finish in the 2014 partypoker.net WPT Montreal as well has his win in the 2014 PokerStars Canada Cup High Roller.

What to Expect Next Week

The Brazil Series of Poker is presently concluding its 10th season with the 2015 BSOP Millions festival in São Paulo, highlighted by the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final. The Main Event of the 2015 Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open begins at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The WPT Prague Festival starts on Sunday. And the Parx Casino Big Stax XIV series begins next Tuesday.

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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