- A summary of the recent accomplishments of players ranked on the Global Poker Index.
Marathon Men: Buonanno Wins EPT Grand Final
No one said it would be easy. Italian Antonio Buonanno (GPI#1459) would rally in what turned into an epic heads-up match to win the EPT Grand Final, defeating rising star Jack Salter (GPI#108) in a match that would end as the sun was rising in beautiful Monte Carlo.
Mayu Roca (GPI#341), the #1 ranked player in the GPI National Columbia rankings, finished fourth in the event.
Gruissem Earns First Win Of 2014
SHOCKING NEWS! A German star wins a High Roller tournament! After a slow start to 2014, former World #2 Philipp Gruissem (GPI#38) returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since last November, defeating Scott Seiver (GPI#3) heads-up for the High Roller title at the EPT Grand Final.
Triple Crown member Davidi Kitai (GPI#37), John Juanda (GPI#283), Byron Kaverman (GPI#7), Martin Finger (GPI#26), Stephen Chidwick (GPI#24) and Pascal Lefrançois (GPI#546) all final tabled the event.
Schemion Crowned EPT Player Of The Year
Congratulations to Ole Schemion (GPI#1) who won the European Poker Tour Player of the Year title over the weekend. The EPT Season 10 PoY race was powered by the Global Poker Index. Schemion, who earned three scores in the final festival of the season in Monte Carlo, wins € 50,000 in buy-ins for PokerStars-presented tours for next season.
Thomas Muehloecker (GPI#43), Alex Bilokur (GPI#16), Vanessa Selbst (GPI#2) and Adrian Mateos Diaz (GPI#65), who won the GPI European Poker Award for Rookie of the Year in January, all finished in the Top 5.
Former WPT Champ Final Tables First WPT Deepstacks
The World Poker Tour and the DeepStacks Poker Tour joined forces last week, creating the new WPTDeepStacks series. The first event of the new series was held this weekend in Turlock, California.
Steve Foutty (GPI#11664) won the inaugural Main Event, surviving a final table that included former WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Champion Joe Nguyen (GPI#1439). Nguyen would finish fourth in the event.
Team DeepStacks Pro Tristan Wade (GPI#1345) would bow out in 14th position.
Stammen Extends GPI PoY Lead, Seiver Moves Up On GPI300
As expected, WPT World Champion Keven Stammen (GPI#23) extended his lead atop the GPI Player of the Year race once GPI rankings were released last Wednesday.
Stammen currently holds a 254.39 point lead in the race, although the second and third ranked players, Alex Bilokur and Ole Schemion, each earned multiple scores at the EPT Grand Final and will close in on Stammdogg once this week’s rankings are released.
Meanwhile, Scott Seiver (GPI#3) made a big move inside the GPI300 this past week, moving up to a career-best #3 in the World this week. The news could get event better for Seiver, who finished second in the High Roller at the EPT Grand Final on Friday. Seiver could be in for yet another move inside the rankings on Wednesday.
Final Five Set At WSOP Circuit Colorado
The final five players at WSOP Circuit Colorado in Black Hawk will be battling for the $116,325 top prize on Monday as Craig Varnell (GPI#2534) leads the charge.
Eric Blair (GPI#431) is third in chips. He will hope that his recent side event victories at the Wynn Classic and the Venetian Deep Stack Extravanganza will serve him well later today in Colorado.
Hinkle Misses Out On HPT Kansas City Final Table
The final table is also set in Kansas City as the Heartland Poker Tour hosted yet another successful event. Quentin Crossley (GPI#45436) leads the way with over 3M chips as final table play kicks off later today.
One player that the final table participants will be happy not to see today is star player, and recent WSOP Circuit Iowa Champion, Blair Hinkle (GPI#289). Hinkle would bow out in 12th position, having to settle for a $10,660 payout.
