Bryn Kenney Stays Number One in GPI Player of the Year

The Poker Masters wrapped up an unparalleled week of action at the ARIA Resort & Casino, with all of the action available on demand with PokerGO, and with some of the world’s best in action, they affected the 2017 GPI Player of the Year standings. Bryn Kenney remains the top-ranked player after shipping Event #2 of the Poker Masters for nearly $1 million and 324.17 POY points to keep his competition at bay.

Kenney first finished in seventh place for a min-cash in Event #2, but back-to-back final tables gave him the momentum to win the next. The win gave him his fifth career score of over $900,000 – putting him one high roller win away from cracking the $20 million club.

Kenney’s drastic weight loss this year sharpened his game, he revealed that he’s playing all of the biggest events until the end of the year and expects himself to win the title.

Several players at the top of the standings bumped up from the Poker Masters, including Koray Aldemir, who maintained his spot with a sixth-place finish in Event #1. Dan Smith tacked on just under 200 points with a fourth-place finish in Event #3 for his tenth, six-figure cash since January.

Adrian Mateos made the first two final tables of the Poker Masters, which gave him four straight high roller cashes dating back to the PokerStars Championship Barcelona in late August. Stephen Chidwick’s rise into the top ten came from two high roller events in Barcelona. He won the first outright, took third in the second and cleared $1.07 million on the trip.

Justin Bonomo finished fifth in the $100,000 Championship and fourth in Event #4 for $391,500 in earnings for the final two events.

An honorable mention goes to Poker Masters Champion Steffen Sontheimer who jumped over 100 places in the standings after a career-defining week. Before the Series started he was ranked at 135^th place, after the four preliminary events he launched to 25^th place and after winning the $100,000 Championship he stands to move inside to top 20.

2017 GPI Player of the Year Standings (as of September 25)

1. Bryn Kenney – 3,440.32
2. Koray Aldemir – 3,167.07
3. Nick Petrangelo – 3,058.14
4. Dan Smith – 2,948.77
5. Dario Sammartino – 2,928.47
6. Sergio Aido – 2,830.89
7. Dejuante Alexander – 2,784.01
8. Adrian Mateos – 2,783.99
9. Pete Yen Han Chen – 2,781.40
10. Stephen Chidwick – 2,778.51
11. Anthony Spinella – 2,769.89
12. Ari Engel – 2,769.06
13. David Peters – 2,767.73
14. Justin Bonomo – 2,713.64
15. Mike Leah – 2,674.96
16. Mani Loeser – 2,667.58
17. Javier Zapatero – 2,641.92
18. Charlie Carrel – 2,618.77
19. Joe McKeehen – 2,611.60
20.  Chance Kornuth – 2,604.03