The 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC) wrapped up over the weekend with Scott Davies taking the Main Event bracelet and Mike Leah capturing the High Roller crown. One side story, though, garnered interest in the last days of the WSOP APAC: the race for the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) title. Neither of the top two contenders made it all the way to the WSOP APAC Main Event final table, but that tournament still played a major factor in the race which eventually ended in George Danzer locking down Player of the Year.
Both Danzer and runner-up Brandon Shack-Harris have had sensational years in the World Series of Poker, as one would expect. Danzer has ten cashes for $867,649, while Shack-Harris has nine for $1,448,716, his second place finish in the $50,000 Players Championship being the biggest reason for the difference in their dollar figures (he won over $900,000 in that event alone).
But Danzer did something that only five other players have ever done: he won three WSOP bracelets in a single year. He earned his first career bracelet in Event #18 $10,000 Razz this summer, followed it up with another win in Event 38: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, and then won APAC Event #8: $5,000 8-Game Mix for the trifecta. He had two other final table finishes plus a ninth place finish to go along with those victories.
A formula developed and maintained by BLUFF is used to determine the World Series of Poker Player of the year. For all open WSOP events except for the Main Event, players are awarded points based on where they finish in the money; these points are then enhanced by a multiplier determined by the size of the field and the buy-in. The Main Event uses a straight point scale without multipliers.
Going into the final days of the WSOP APAC Main Event, Danzer had a 116.8 point lead over Shack-Harris on the WSOP POY leaderboard. Danzer was out of the tournament, but Shack-Harris was still alive, meaning he had a chance to jump into first place. It would have required a first or second place finish, though, according to the formula. The buy-in (in US Dollars) was $8,800, giving the tournament a 1.5x multiplier in the points formula, while the 329 player field also produced a 1.5x multiplier. First place was worth 100 points to start and after the multipliers, awarded 225 points. Similarly, second place had a 70 point base value and turned into 157.5 points after the multipliers were factored in. Those two totals, and those two alone, would have been enough for Shack-Harris to take the lead. But while he made a deep run, he topped out at 17th place, leaving Danzer in the lead, 923.50 points to 829.20.
Shack-Harris had one more opportunity to flip the standings, as he entered the WSOP APAC High Roller Event shortly after his ouster from the Main Event. He was unable to do much there, though, and earned no points. Neither player is in the November Nine and nobody in the November Nine can mathematically catch Danzer, so George Danzer has officially clinched the 2014 World Series of Poker Player of the Year title.
It is not just a symbolic title, either. Danzer will receive a free entry into the 2015 WSOP Main Event and will have a banner hung in his honor in the WSOP tournament room.
