The 2017 World Series of Poker Player of the Year race is a source of controversy. The WSOP organizers allowed a change to the point system this year, but players do not believe it is an improvement.
Caesars Entertainment, sold the POY award’s naming rights this year to King’s Casino, the brick-and-mortar casino in the Czech Republic which is home to the WSOP Europe Championship. King’s Casino created a different formula than the previous Player of the Year sponsors, Global Poker Index and Bluff Magazine (before GPI).
David Bach: 35th Place
David Bach has won two WSOP bracelets this year after taking first in the $10,000 HORSE Championship and the $1,500 Dealers Choice 6-Handed event. Despite being the only player to have won two events, Bach is only 35th on the WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard.
Mike Leach: 2nd Place
Meanwhile, Mike Leah sits in 2nd place on the leaderboard, though he has yet to win an event. Leah made the final table in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship, where he finished in 7th place in the event.
The new POY point system favors quantity over quality. Mike Leah has finished in the money in 9 events, so the volume of good finishes are favored over victories. Winning an event is seen more as a matter of good luck than poker skill.
The type of events seem to have a bearing on the POY total points race. For instance, Mike Leah did well in big events like the $565 Colossus III and the $565 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLOlossus) events. He also placed well in gimmicky events like the $2620 Marathon and the $1000 Super Turbo Bounty event.
James Obst: 1st Place
No one has an argument with the current leader, James Obst, so the controversy only goes so far. James Obst won the Razz Championship bracelet, while finishing as the runner-up in the $1500 No-Limit Deuce to Seven event.
James Obst nearly made the final table in two other events, while cashing in a total of six 2017 WSOP events so far. At the halfway point of the 8-week World Series of Poker tournament, it would be hard to argue that anyone else has had a better 2017 tournament so far.
Daniel Negreanu: 5th Place
Still, players who are chasing James Obst are still wondering why their accomplishments have not received more points. For instance, Daniel Negreanu, who current sits at 5th place in the WSOP Player of the Year race, has asked publicly why his 3 final tables and 7 cashes do not have him higher than fifth.
The Case of Global Poker Index
When Global Poker Index changed the formula used by Bluff Magazine, it received criticism from players at first. When Mike Gorodinsky and Jason Mercier won the award the past two years, the criticism was muted, because it seemed that new point system worked.
Poker players, like people in general, do not like change — at least for the sake of change. The 2017 WSOP still has a long way to go and players still have many chances to win the WSOP Player of the Year Award. Cream rises to the top and, over time, the eventual winner is likely to be the player with the best collective tournament.
That is the hope, anyway. If not, King’s Casino is going to hear about it.
