Global Poker Index: McDonald is Top Canadian; Negreanu Down to No. 8

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 January 6, 2016.

GPI Top 10 Canadians

Canadian Rank	Global Rank		Player	Total Score
1	16		Mike McDonald	3,420.83
2	20		Jonathan Duhamel	3,271.29
3	30		Sam Greenwood	3,131.38
4	46		Mike Leah	2,861.14
5	59		Daniel Dvoress	2,653.84
6	66		Andrew Chen	2,613.64
7	71		Sam Chartier	2,561.32
8	73		Daniel Negreanu	2,554.05
9	82		Ami Barer	2,475.13
10	103		Sorel Mizzi	2,292.77

After concluding 2015 as the GPI Canadian Player of the Year, Mike McDonald sits in the No. 1 spot on Team Canada after Week 1 of the new year. Amazingly, he's already picked up a six-figure score in 2016 after coming eighth in the $200,000 Super High Roller at World Poker Tour National Philippines in the first few days of the year. That result was worth $351,320, although the 224.38 GPI points it was worth are currently excluded from his GPI score since he already has too many other results worth more than that.

Another notable member of this top 10 is Daniel Dvoress who continues to climb the ranks after coming out of nowhere nearly a year ago. He currently sits at No. 5 in Canada — No. 59 in the world — which is the best of his career. He came into 2015 with about $200,000 across seven lifetime tournament cashes, and finished the year with 14 more cashes worth more than $700,000. He'll be one to watch this year as he hopefully continues on an upward trajectory as a promising emerging player.

It's also worth noting that Daniel Negreanu — the biggest money winner in poker history — has slid all the way down to No. 8 in Canada and he'll be looking to turn that around quickly in 2016.

GPI Player of the Year

As PokerNews reported last week, Byron Kaverman finished December as the 2015 Global Poker Index Player of the Year in a tight race that saw him manage to hold off Anthony Zinno (who finished second), Steve O’Dwyer (third), and Nick Petrangelo (fourth).

Meanwhile, the race for the 2016 Global Poker Index Player of the Year has already begun. We’ll begin reporting on that one soon once the first events of the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure are complete.

Kaverman isn’t necessarily looking to repeat his POY performance from last year, however, as he explained to us yesterday. Read what he had to say in “GPI Player of the Year Byron Kaverman Says He's Not Looking To Repeat in 2016.”

GPI 300 Top 10

Kaverman also ended 2015 as the leader in the overall GPI rankings, and he continues to hold onto the No. 1 spot for the first week of 2015, making it 14 straight weeks in front. There was some movement among those in the top 10 during the first week of the year thanks primarily to the Triton Super High Roller Series $200,000 Cali Cup that played out last weekend as part of the World Poker Tour Philippines stop in Manila.

Fedor Holz ended 2015 winning the $100K buy-in WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas event at the Bellagio, and he began 2016 in similar fashion by winning the Trition SHR for a cool $3.463 million first prize. Holz topped a 52-entry field in that event, and earned enough GPI points as a result to jump from No. 9 to No. 5 in the overall rankings. Holz first cracked the GPI top 10 three weeks ago, with No. 5 representing his highest ranking thus far.

Runner-up David Peters likewise benefitted both financially (earning $2.309 million for second) and GPI points-wise as he moved from No. 14 to No. 10 this week. Peters’s highest previous GPI ranking has been No. 5 (in late 2013).

Welcome to the GPI Top 300

There are 14 new names in the GPI top 300 compared to a week ago, with Jonathan Karamalikis the highest-ranked of the group after moving up from No. 304 to No. 271.

Eugene Katchalov also jumps back into the top 300 after being out for just a week. His No. 317 ranking a week ago marked the first time since the rankings began in 2011 that he was not in the top 300. Katchalov’s highest-ever ranking has been No. 2 (in October 2011).

Biggest Gains

2014 Global Poker Index Player of the Year Daniel Colman starts off the year as the biggest gainer among players in the top 300, having jumped from No. 203 to No. 125 thanks to his sixth-place showing in the Triton Super High Roller Series $200,000 Cali Cup.

Biggest Drops

Finally, looking at those who fell the furthest yet remained inside the top 300 this week, Matt Waxman took the biggest tumble, going from No. 186 to No. 296.

Incidentally, among players tumbling out of the GPI top 300 to start the year are Phil Hellmuth (who fell from No. 236 to No. 329), Martin Jacobson (from No. 273 to No. 352), and JC Tran (from No. 286 to No. 379).

What to Expect Next Week

As noted, the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is underway with the $100,000 Super High Roller kicking off the 104-event series in a big way yesterday. Of the 49 entries in that one, eight of the current top 10 players in the GPI took part, with Nick Petrangelo (No. 4), Bryn Kenney (No. 8), and David Peters (No. 10) all returning to big stacks to start today’s Day 2.

Be sure to follow PokerNews’ live reporting from the $100,000 Super High Roller here, and stick close as well over the next week-plus for coverage of the $5,300 Main Event, the $50,000 Single-Day High Roller, and the $25,000 High Roller.

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.

Get all the latest PokerNews Canada updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!