GPI Year in Review: Negreanu Makes His Move as October Offers Tons of Action

WSOP Europe, EPT London, WPT Grand Prix de Paris, WPT Alpha8 London – TONS of action over in Europe in October, oh, and Kid Poker takes over the GPI300…

INCREDIBLE ACTION AT WSOP EUROPE

It seemed like every bracelet event at the World Series of Poker Europe offered drama and incredible story lines. Case in point the Main Event which featured a heads-up match made for the newsmakers as Fabrice Soulier, one of the best players to ever come from France, would duke it out with Adrian Mateos Diaz, one of poker’s top young guns. Soulier, who would turn around a miserable 2013 campaign no matter what the final result, would finish second to the young Spaniard.

Daniel Negreanu would also provide some drama at the WSOPE. Kid Poker, who would need a strong finish in order to secured WSOP Player of the Year honours would in fact go on to win the High Roller event, adding yet another bracelet to his trophy case and passing WSOP Players Championship winner Matthew Ashton to earn his WSOP PoY title. Would the win finally be enough to propel Negreanu to the very top of the GPI300? More on that a little later in this article…

Thank you ALL for your support- I WON! I am on cloud right now and love each and every one of you. Even those of you who hate me haha 🙂

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) October 25, 2013

Other bracelet winners would include: Jackie Glazier (Ladies), Henrik Johansson (NLH Re-Entry), Darko Stojanovic (NLH Mixed Max), Jeremy Ausmus (PLO), Roger Hairabedian (2K NLH) and Noah Schwartz (PLO Mixed Max) … Schwartz is now a EPT title away from joining poker’s Triple Crown club.

YLITALO WINS IN LONDON, CHARANIA IN PARIS

Robin Ylitalo was the big winner in London. The Swedish pro would certainly pick the right time to earn his first victory on the live tournament circuit winning the EPT London Main Event. Entering final table play, all eyes were on Aussie star Jeffrey Rossiter who had been near the top of the chip counts for a few days heading into FT play. Rossiter would end up finishing fifth in the event.

Other event winners in London would include: Robbie Bull (UKIPT Main), Vanessa Selbst (UKIPT High Roller), Martin Finger (50K Super High Roller), Mark Radoja (NLH 5K Turbo), and a pair of players who would finally break their second place curses on the EPT: Martin Jacobson and Jason Lavallee.

Meanwhile in Paris, former EPT Grand Final Champion Mohsin Charania would take down the WPT Grand Prix de Paris title at the famed Aviation Club de France. Charania would take care of Vasili Firsau heads-up en route to his first WPT title.

WPT One to Watch Christina Lindley, Kimmo Kurko, Marvin Rettenmaier, Season XI Champ Matt Salsberg, Jason Koon, Kara Scott and recent WSOP bracelet winner Darko Stojanovic were a few of the notable players who would go on to cash in the event.

OCTOBER IN A FLASH

Top German pro Philipp Gruissem would win his first of two straight WPT Alpha8 titles at Alpha8 London. The 100K buy-in event would attract 20 players to London. Gruissem would collected over 1.37M USD for his win.

The Asia Championship of Poker would take place in Macau as Sunny Jung would collect over 560K USD for the victory. Other ACOP winners would include Jian Yang, who won the Warm-Up event, and NLH KO Bounty Champ Ken Demlakian.

Other October winners would include: Alain Manquant (WPT National Marrakech), Sam Merck (Choctaw Fall Series), Cong Pham (HPT Florida), Zal Irani (WSOPC Southern Indiana), Renato Nomura (BSOP Florianopolis), Francesco Foco (WPT National Italy), James Dorrance (WSOPC Hammond), Manuel Casillas (Tanger Millionaire Maker) and UKIPT Isle of Man winner Duncan Mclellan.

NEGREANU’S RISE TO GPI#1:

Daniel Negreanu would have an up and down and up again October on the GPI300. Starting the month ranked #2, Negreanu would drop all the way down to 8th overall one week into the month. However, Negreanu’s sixth bracelet victory in Enghien-les-Bains would be exactly what Kid Poker needed to finally reach the top of the GPI300. By month’s end, we had a new #1 and Negreanu would hold onto that top rank for the remainder of the season.

After six weeks atop the GPI300 standings, Marvin Rettenmaier would give way to his fellow countryman, Ole Schemion as the young German prodigy was suddenly the one at the top. Schemion’s reign, however, would only last for a week before Negreanu took over on October 30th.

SCHEMION’S ROAD TO GPI PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

A cash in a 5K NLH Turbo Six-Handed event during the EPT London Festival would allow Ole Schemion to keep his #1 spot on the GPI Player of Year Leaderboard through the middle of the month. Then, Negreanu would not only replace Schemion atop the GPI300, he would also takeover the GPI Player of the Year race, taking Schemion’s spot atop both set of rankings.

Schemion would actually drop to third overall by the end of October, the lowest he would be ranked for the remainder of 2013.

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GPI YEAR IN REVIEW:

January ››  PCA, Aussie Millions Kickoff January
February ››  Welcome to February, Where Fantasy Met Reality
March ››  EPT Victory for Visser, Rocco Rocks Venice in March
April ››  Kid Poker Hits the Ground Running in April
May ››  Mercier Shines in Monte Carlo in May
June ›› WSOP Dominates June Headlines
July ››  Elezra, Harwood, Alaei Win, November Nine Set in July
August ›› Hinkle, Sivler Win Big in Florida, Rybin, Cristos Win WPTs in August
September ›› Big October Wins for Middleton, Zinno, Marvin Moves to #1
October ›› Negreanu Makes His Move as October Offers Tons of Action
November ›› Four Win on WPT, Mizzi Wins Premier League in November
December ›› Smith, Pair of Julians Win, Schemion Steals PoY

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