European Poker Tour Announces Changes to Season 11 Players of the Year Award

Chad Holloway

Level 13 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante

Neil Johnson, EPT10 POY Ole Schemion & Edgar Stuchly

In Season 10, the European Poker Tour saw a heated Player of the Year race between such players as Vanessa Selbst, Stephen Chidwick, Alex Bilokur, and Thomas Muhlocker. However, in the end, it was German wunderkind Ole Schemion that amassed 1,337.74 points to claim the title and a €50,000 buy-in to either a PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker sponsored event.

For Season 11, which just kicked off in Barcelona with the €50,000 Super High Roller, things are a little different. The EPT has announced that there will now be three new Player of the Year leaderboards, each utilizing a Global Poker Index (GPI) – the world’s leading poker ranking authority — formula for poker rankings.

“We are pleased to continue our relationship with the EPT,” said Alexandre Dreyfus, President of GPI. “I'm happy that the EPT and Global Poker Index continue to work together to establish industry standards. We share a vision and commitment to promotepoker as a global and unified sport to a mainstream audience.”

The EPTs often hold festival events alongside tours such as Estrellas, UKIPT, Eureka, French Poker Series, and the Italian Poker Series, each encompassing events with a buy-in of just $100 all the way up to €100,000. Given the huge breadth of tournaments that are available to players, there will be three tiers of the Player of the Year contest in Season 11:

EPT11 Player of the Year Gold — Includes all open events. It is expected the winner of this award will be the player with the best results in EPT Main Events and High-Roller event.
EPT11 Player of the Year Silver — Includes all open events with buy-in of US $4,000 and below. It is expected the winner of this award will be the player most successful at large side events.
EPT11 Player of the Year Bronze — Includes all open events with buy-in of US $600 and lower. It is expected the winner of this award will be the player most successful at smaller side events.

Each winner will receive a customized trophy in recognition of their achievement.

“The European Poker Tour caters to an incredible spectrum of players of all skill levels and bankrolls, and we believe the Player of the Year should reflect that,” said Edgar Stuchly, President of the European Poker Tour. “Each stop of the EPT is a huge poker festival and this change allows us to recognize this diversity.”