Pennsylvania pro John Hennigan moves into first on the 2018 WSOP POY leaderboard on the strength of two major finishes.
Las Vegas, NV (20 June 2018) -- West Chester, PA's John Hennigan has taken over the top spot in the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year chase as the summer's slate of events at the Rio Convention Center moves closer to its halfway mark.
Hennigan was the star of Week #3 at the Rio, taking down the gold bracelet in Event #27: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, then following that up with a second-place effort in Event #33: $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
"Johnny World"'s huge week was worth 1,734.8 POY points (in addition to about $1.18 million in winnings) and boosted his running points total to 2,384.87. Hennigan climbed past New York City's Elio Fox, who stayed at 2,010.14 after a cash-less week at the Rio.
It's another 300-plus points down to third, where Joe Cada used a small cash in Event #26: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha to move just ahead of last week's second-place player, Paul Volpe. Cada now has 1,692.71 points, while Volpe's dry week has him holding steady at 1,671.30.
Spots five through ten in this week's update saw significant change, with only France's Julien Martini -- up this week from seventh to sixth -- staying in the top ten from a week ago. This week's fifth spot goes to Ramsey, NJ's Ryan Bambrick, who added 1,009.5 points for his win in Event #30: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha to three early cashes this summer, boosting his total to 1,431.46.
Like Bambrick, Martini has added three other cashes to a bracelet win earlier this summer. Martini's latest three cashes, though, all came in the past week, with the best being a 17th-place showing in Event #31: $1,500 Seven Card Stud.
The seventh through tenth spots this week are each filled by players who won a bracelet in recent days. Seventh, with 1,366,39 points, is this year's $50,000 Poker Players Championship, Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi. Mizrachi's third triumph in the $50,000 PPC was worth 1,315.2 POY points, which were added to one earlier cash this summer.
Sitting in eighth is China's Yueqi Zhu, who took down Event #35: Mixed $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Big O (5-Card PLO/8). Zhu is also among the leaders in cashes so far this summer with seven. Event #23: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship winner Brian Rast currently holds ninth, while Germany's Arne Kern, winner of this year's Millionaire Maker, currently rounds out the top ten.
The 2018 WSOP Player of the Year chase runs through the WSOP and WSOP Europe slates this summer and fall. This includes 72 "open" bracelet events in Las Vegas, plus bracelet events at WSOP Europe at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, which will be held October 9 through November 2, 2018. A half-dozen special events on the Las Vegas WSOP schedule are not eligible for POY points consideration. Those events are the Casino Employees, Seniors, Super Seniors, Ladies, Tag Team, Big One for One Drop, and the Global Casino Championship.
The WSOP also provides an interactive calculator to display estimated points for any particular event. (Official points earned will be listed on the results page for each event, and may differ slightly.) Click here for more information on the 2018 POY formula.
The top ten players in the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year race to date:
1 -- John Hennigan 2,384.87
2 -- Elio Fox 2,010.14
3 -- Joe Cada 1,692.71
4 -- Paul Volpe 1,671.30
5 -- Ryan Bambrick 1,431.46
6 -- Julien Martini 1,400.16
7 -- Michael Mizrachi 1,366.39
8 -- Yueqi Zhu 1,363.95
9 -- Brian Rast 1,347.63
10 -- Arne Kern 1,332.47