Now that the preliminary events have concluded at the 2015 World Series of Poker – leaving only the WSOP Championship Event and the ten-event schedule of the World Series of Poker Europe in Berlin this October remaining on the schedule – the true contenders have moved forward in the WSOP Player of the Year race. After tailing Paul Volpe at the halfway mark of the schedule, $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship winner Mike Gorodinsky has moved into a semi-comfortable lead.
Gorodinsky was slightly more than 18 points behind Volpe at the halfway mark and the PPC title more than made up that difference. That victory and a 17th place finish in the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller event brought Gorodinsky’s total to 2157.19 points. With no other points awarded until events conclude (meaning any points earned by players in the Championship Event will not be counted until its finish in November), Gorodinsky cemented his spot on top of the leaderboard as the only player with more than 2000 points.
This isn’t to say that there wasn’t a battle behind Gorodinsky to take him out of the pole position and contend for the POY title. Anthony Zinno wasn’t even in the Top 20 at the halfway mark of the WSOP, but in the span of one week he changed that situation. Final tables in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship (fifth), the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop (seventh) and the $25,000 PLO High Roller that Gorodinsky was in (winner for a $1,122,195 payday) saw Zinno rocket up the rankings in five days. At this moment, Zinno will have to be comfortable with second place with his 1942.72 points.
Volpe, who got off to a hot streak in the first three weeks of the WSOP, cooled off a bit over the second half. He was able to only add one more cash to his 2015 WSOP bankroll, but it was his fourth final table of the 2015 in the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Event. The points from that event were enough to put Volpe into third place (1889.46 points) and in good striking position if he decides to go to Berlin this fall.
Fourth and fifth places held firm from the standing at the halfway mark of the 2015 WSOP. Shaun Deeb put two more final tables on his resume to hold onto fourth place with 1803.99 points, while the only two-time bracelet winner to this point of the WSOP, Brian Hastings, used his second victory to hold fifth place with 1564.60 points. Hastings hanging on to that position may be difficult, however, as the second tier of the Top Ten are within 100 points of his spot.
Leading the Second Five is Ismael Bojang, who crept up the leaderboard over the last few weeks from ninth place to sixth. With 1563.32 points, Bojang is breathing heavily down Hastings’ neck, slightly more than ONE point behind Hastings. The remainder of the Top Ten is replete with newcomers that include Rep Porter (1548.79 points), Stephen Chidwick (1541.79), Phil Hellmuth (1534.33) and Stuart Rutter (1446.98) in seventh through tenth places, respectively.
The Second Ten has many contenders that are all but guaranteed to be in Berlin in November and, as such, will have an excellent opportunity to add to their totals and potentially challenge Gorodinsky. Jonathan Duhamel (11th, 1445.74 points), Jason Mercier (13th, 1430.57), Kevin MacPhee (14th, 1428.21), Olivier Busquet (16th, 1395.66), Byron Kaverman (17th, 1387.42) and Mike Watson (20th, 1309.33) are frequent travelers to the “Other Side of The Pond” and, with some strong finishes in the WSOP-E in Berlin, could creep up on those players in the Top Ten.
Hastings is currently still in the WSOP Championship Event (and sitting high on the tournament leaderboard) and a “November Nine” finish by him might enable him to pass Gorodinsky (depending on the calculations from the GPI databanks). As it is now, however, Gorodinsky is the man to catch for the WSOP Player of the Year honors – the question will be is can anyone achieve the feat.
