Another tournament poker season is underway and, as typical for the two major ratings systems, there is no consensus. Because of the way that these two organizations allot their points, there is a major conflict in ranking the Poker Player of the Year. That is why there are twelve months to the year, however, and in the end, it usually works out.
Ausmus Takes Early Lead on CardPlayer Board
In the first two months of 2025, Jeremy Ausmus has stormed to the lead in the CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year race. Part of what drove him to the top of the board was his stirring run to the PokerGO Tour Championship at the start of January, which earned the longtime pro a nice $500,000 payday. Because it was an invitational event, though (the PGT Championship only brings in the top 27 players at the end of the year), Ausmus did not earn any points toward the 2025 POY.
Ausmus would take care of that situation by winning the $25,000 Eight Max No Limit Hold’em tournament during the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Jeju, South Korea. 391 entries were received in that tournament to build a prize pool that came up just short of $10 million. Ausmus would take home the lion’s share of that prize pool, $1,892,000, in defeating Quan Zhou to take the title.
The 2100 points that Ausmus received for that win catapulted him to the top of the CardPlayer leaderboard, but there are a host of excellent players arranged behind him for the long run to December:
1. Jeremy Ausmus (Las Vegas, NV), 2870 points
2. Joey Weissman (Boca Raton, FL), 2477
3. Nick Schulman (Manhattan, NY), 2156
4. Brandon Wilson (Chicago, IL), 2107
5. Cody Stanford (Tupelo, MS), 1887
6. Zhen Chen (China), 1860
7. Zhao Hongjun (China), 1800
8. Quan Zhou (Harbin, China), 1750
9. Spencer Champlin (Scarborough, ME), 1728
10. Ryan Hogan (Florida), 1720
Weissman Seizes Early GPI POY Lead
He may not be getting the kudos from the CardPlayer rankings, but Joey Weissman is certainly getting his bouquets from the Global Poker Index. Weissman is one of the players who has taken full advantage of the PokerGO Tour’s action in Las Vegas, figuring prominently in their early 2025 play. By taking advantage of the tournaments offered by the PGT, Weissman has been able to seize the GPI Player of the Year race lead.
Over the first two months of 2025, Weissman has racked up seven final table finishes between the PGT Last Chance Tournament, the PGT Kickoff, and the 2020 PGT PokerGO Cup. Weissman was particularly dominant during the PokerGO Cup, taking Event #2 ($10,000 No Limit Hold’em) and finishing as the runner-up in Events #1, #4, and #8. Those four finishes alone made Weissman nearly a million dollars ($929,700) and allowed him to take home the PokerGO Cup.
It also allowed him to take the overall lead in the GPI Player of the Year race, where a completely different cast is waiting to take their shot:
1. Joey Weissman (Syosset, NY), 1849.43 points
2. Shannon Shorr (Tuscaloosa, AL), 1659.90
3. Samuel Laskowitz (Bayport, NY), 1655.14
4. Michael Berk (Chesterton, IN), 1635.80
5. Kristen Foxen (Las Vegas, NV), 1632.74
6. Nick Schulman (Manhattan, NY), 1513.28
7. Jeremy Becker (Tampa, FL), 1451.20
8. Matthew McEwan (San Francisco, CA), 1451.00
9. Nicholas Seward (Washington, DC), 1360.71
10. Stephen Song (Greenwich, CT), 1323.64
Active Month of March Awaits
The first sixty days of 2025 have been busy, and another active month awaits in March. Right now, the PGT Mixed Games Series is ongoing, with David ‘Chino’ Rheem so far earning a victory and a third-place finish to take the current lead. The Wynn Millions is also in the middle of its schedule, with its $10,000 Main Event set to begin on March 13. The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP-C), the World Poker Tour Prime (WPT Prime), and many other tournaments remain in March for players to take their shots. There will be a wealth of tournaments that could completely revamp these standings come April Fool’s Day.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO Tour)
