Global Poker Index: Fedor Holz Extending Lead over Nick Petrangelo, Jason Mercier
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 Sept. 28, 2016.
2016 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fedor Holz | 3637.69 | - |
| 2 | Chance Kornuth | 3336.54 | - |
| 3 | Paul Volpe | 3192.20 | +1 |
| 4 | David Peters | 3097.44 | -1 |
| 5 | Adrian Mateos | 3045.89 | - |
| 6 | Nick Petrangelo | 3008.21 | - |
| 7 | Ivan Luca | 2992.47 | - |
| 8 | Jason Mercier | 2931.51 | - |
| 9 | Connor Drinan | 2926.70 | - |
| 10 | Dominik Nitsche | 2875.65 | - |
Fedor Holz retained the top spot in the 2016 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race for a 16th-straight week where still enjoys a comfortable lead over Chance Kornuth in second position.
The rest of the top 10 was quiet as well, with only Paul Volpe nudging ahead of David Peters to move into the third spot in the rankings. It was a 20th-place and cash in the recently completed World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open Main Event won by Jesse Sylvia that netted Volpe some POY points to move up.
Looking below the top 10, two other players who cashed in the WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Event were able to move closer to the upper part of the POY leaderboard. John Racener finished ninth in the event, helping him go from No. 58 to No. 33 and William Foxen took 13th which gave him points to go from No. 57 to No. 29.
GPI 300 Top 10
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fedor Holz | 4885.33 | - |
| 2 | Nick Petrangelo | 4392.22 | - |
| 3 | Jason Mercier | 4304.04 | +1 |
| 4 | Steve O'Dwyer | 4295.30 | -1 |
| 5 | Byron Kaverman | 4247.25 | - |
| 6 | Connor Drinan | 4183.95 | - |
| 7 | Anthony Zinno | 4022.11 | +1 |
| 8 | Bryn Kenney | 3992.68 | +1 |
| 9 | David Peters | 3977.75 | -2 |
| 10 | Erik Seidel | 3872.57 | +1 |
Holz remains the overall top-ranked tournament player in the world for a 16th-straight week as well, and in fact managed to increase the distance between himself and everyone else thanks to the small adjustments that happen each week as player's' earlier scores get affected by the GPI Aging Factor.
Nick Petrangelo remains in second position while others in the top 10 shuffled slightly and Erik Seidel rejoined the list at No. 10, pushing out Adrian Mateos who slipped from No. 10 to No. 12.
Welcome to the GPI Top 300
| Rank | Player | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 245 | Matt Waxman | 2027.04 |
| 259 | Corey Hochman | 1997.98 |
| 270 | Scott Davies | 1962.63 |
| 282 | Cord Garcia | 1928.83 |
| 290 | Roman Valerstein | 1917.10 |
| 296 | Vineet Pahuja | 1895.38 |
| 297 | Rumen Nanev | 1893.06 |
| 298 | Antonio Esfandiari | 1891.11 |
| 300 | David Stefanski | 1888.04 |
Nine players joined the top 300 following the latest update, with Matt Waxman the highest-ranked of the group after moving up from No. 328 to No. 245. Waxman also made a deep run in that 1,179-entry WPT Borgata Poker Open Main Event, finishing 11th. Waxman's previous career-high GPI ranking has been No. 7, achieved back in February 2012.
Each of the other eight newcomers have been in the GPI top 300 before. Among that group, Antonio Esfandiari had the highest previous ranking at No. 14, achieved in late June 2013.
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 245 | Matt Waxman | 2027.04 | +83 |
| 270 | Scott Davies | 1962.63 | +80 |
| 300 | David Stefanski | 1888.04 | +79 |
| 231 | Dorian Alejandro Rios Pavon | 2047.50 | +67 |
| 147 | Ian O'Hara | 2304.94 | +59 |
Waxman's jump up puts him atop the list of biggest gainers this week (among those in the top 300), followed closely by 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific Main Event winner Scott Davies who elevated from No. 350 to No. 270. Davies finished runner-up to Jermaine Gerlin in the Heartland Poker Tour Daytona Beach Main Event last week to help get him back into the top 300.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 210 | Ludovic Geilich | 2085.82 | -53 |
| 256 | Andrew Chen | 2010.80 | -45 |
| 257 | Diego Zeiter | 2009.19 | -38 |
| 196 | Pascal Hartmann | 2138.44 | -34 |
| 173 | Thomas Muehloecker | 2206.08 | -28 |
Finally, looking at players inside the top 300 who are moving in the downward direction, Ludovic Geilich slipped the furthest after going from No. 157 to No. 210.
What to Expect Next Week
The 2016 Wynn Fall Classic got started yesterday in Las Vegas, the WPT National Valkenburg series is already underway in the Netherlands and the World Series of Poker Circuit is currently making an international stop in Berlin.
Also, the 2016 PMU.fr World Poker Tour National Marrakech festival is underway, with Day 2 of the High Roller event in action today and the Main Event running through the weekend. The PokerNews live reporting team is on hand for those two events, so be sure to check the live updates to see who is playing and winning in Morocco.
To view the 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.
