Ladies Global Poker Index: A Few New Faces in the Player of the Year Race
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Similar to the overall GPI article that comes out on the first Thursday of every month, the Ladies Global Poker Index report highlights the rankings of the best female poker players in the world, with an update released in the third week of each month. You can catch up with the first edition here or check out last month's report here.
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. Here, we take a look at both the top 10 Ladies 2019 Player of the Year standings and the Overall Ladies GPI rankings as of March 21, 2019. For a look at the latest PokerNews overall GPI report, read this article, and to see the entire Ladies GPI standings, visit the official GPI website.
This month, there's not much change to report as far as the overall Ladies GPI standings goes, with Kristen Bicknell, Maria Ho and Maria Lampropulos holding strong in the top three spots. But the 2019 Ladies POY list is a different story. While Bicknell and Sosia Jiang are still at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, a few new faces have joined the POY Top 10.
Ladies on the Rise in 2019
We're almost a quarter of the way into 2019, with plenty more poker to be played to be sure. But the race is already getting interesting in the battle for top female tournament player of the year. Here's a bit more about three ladies making the biggest waves so far during the first three months of 2019.
Playing on the tournament circuit regularly for just over a year, Malaysia's Natalie Teh (pictured above, left) is already becoming a regular force in some of the biggest poker events around the world. Her best score of $57,010 resulted from finishing 120th in last year's WSOP Main Event and her seven cashes so far in 2019 have put her fifth in the current Ladies POY standings.
Those cashes have come in three different countries, including three at the Aussie Millions and three in the Asian Poker Tour in Taiwan, where she made two final tables.
Sasha Liu (pictured above, center) is best known in poker for her pot-limit Omaha cash game prowess which she regularly puts on display in and around Las Vegas where she resides. Over the last couple of years, Liu has focused a bit more on tournaments, both PLO and no-limit hold'em, where she's enjoyed her share of success.
So far in 2019, Liu has booked a cash at the PCA, two cashes in Venetian DeepStack events, and four cashes at The Wynn including shipping a $400 PLO side event. She is now seventh on the Ladies POY list.
In the past two months, Minnesota native Sherry Hammers (pictured above, right) has made three deep runs in mid-stakes tour main events, the most recent being a 15th-place finish in the WSOP Circuit Rio Main Event out of a field of 952 entries.
Hammers' best cash to date was $45,198 for a third-place finish in the $1,100 MSPT Minnesota Main Event back in February 2018. If she can continue her momentum, Hammers will continue to climb the Ladies POY ranks, where she currently finds herself 10th. See below for a full list of the current top ten.
2019 Ladies GPI Player of the Year Standings
| Rank | Player | 2019 GPI POY Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kristen Bicknell | 1,222.77 |
| 2nd | Sosia Jiang | 786.36 |
| 3rd | Lauren Roberts | 740.11 |
| 4th | Judith Bielan | 709.54 |
| 5th | Natalie "Siew Po" Teh | 569.22 |
| 6th | Lakisha Slaughter | 554.25 |
| 7th | Sasha Hsiao Liu | 550.89 |
| 8th | Jessica Dawley | 529.10 |
| 9th | Li Yan | 513.89 |
| 10th | Sherry Hammers | 509.27 |
Overall Ladies GPI Top 10
While the overall Ladies GPI Top 10 hasn't changed much in a month, look out for Loni Harwood jumping up several spots in the coming days once she gets credit for her finish in the $5,200 Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event. The final table of that event is currently playing out, and Harwood entered today with the chip lead with five players remaining.
Here's a look at the overall Top 10 as of Thursday, March 21:
| Rank | Player | GPI Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kristen Bicknell | 3,104.76 |
| 2nd | Maria Ho | 2,160.42 |
| 3rd | Maria Lampropulos | 2,153.00 |
| 4th | Gao Wenling | 1,880.97 |
| 5th | Loni Harwood | 1,802.72 |
| 6th | Jessica Dawley | 1,707.08 |
| 7th | Anna Antimony | 1,681.19 |
| 8th | Daria Feshchenko | 1,671.50 |
| 9th | Wendy Freedman | 1,653.81 |
| 10th | Kitty Kuo | 1,565.78 |
You can follow the Ladies GPI races on the official GPI website or get updates via the GPI Twitter and Facebook page. Poker tournament results in this article were provided by The Hendon Mob.
