January 13 2016, by Eric Danis
GPI300: The Steve O’Dwyer era begins
Poker has a new king as Steve O’Dwyer becomes the 12th player to ever sit atop the GPI World Poker Rankings …
After spending 15 straight weeks at #1, Byron Kaverman (GPI#3, -2) drops this week, as Steve O’Dwyer (GPI#1, +1) takes his rightful place at the top of the GPI World Poker Rankings for the very first time of his career. O’Dwyer becomes the 12th player to ever be ranked at #1.
It is shocking to read that O’Dwyer actually dropped out of the GPI300 for the first time of his career just 15 months ago. Since then, 5 wins, 15 Top 10 finishes and millions of dollars in earnings.
With three significant scores already this season – including a 1st and a 4th – O’Dwyer is certain to be an early contender in the 2016 GPI PoY race once the first PoY rankings are released later this month. A late surge saw the American, who now calls Ireland home, contend for the 2015 PoY crown.
GPI WORLD POKER RANKINGS TOP 10
| RANK | PLAYER | NATION | GPI SCORE | LAST | CHANGE |
| #1 | Steve O’Dwyer | USA | 4,182.78 | 1 | +1 |
| #2 | Nicholas Petrangelo | USA | 4,030.13 | 4 | +2 |
| #3 | Byron Kaverman | USA | 4,022.13 | 1 | -2 |
| #4 | Anthony Zinno | USA | 3,953.59 | 3 | -1 |
| #5 | Jason Mercier | USA | 3,895.52 | 6 | +1 |
| #6 | Bryn Kenney | USA | 3,861.26 | 8 | +2 |
| #7 | Fedor Holz | GER | 3,840.23 | 5 | -2 |
| #8 | David Peters | USA | 3,714.78 | 10 | +2 |
| #9 | Kevin MacPhee | USA | 3,659.44 | 7 | -2 |
| #10 | Martin Finger | GER | 3,634.50 | 9 | -1 |
Out of the Top 10 this week: None
SWIMMING UPSTREAM
| PLAYER | NATION | GPI SCORE | LAST | THIS | CHANGE |
| Mihails Morozovs | LAT | 1,957.06 | 263 | 170 | +93 |
| Salman Behbehani | USA | 2,337.28 | 191 | 104 | +87 |
| Ivan Soshnikov | RUS | 2,034.52 | 231 | 153 | +78 |
| Pierre Neuville | BEL | 2,302.87 | 184 | 108 | +76 |
| Nick Yunis | CHI | 1,826.32 | 277 | 213 | +64 |
| Joseph McKeehen | USA | 2,954.26 | 91 | 39 | +52 |
| Justin Bonomo | USA | 2,495.45 | 129 | 77 | +52 |
| Iaron Lightbourne | UK | 1,794.92 | 278 | 227 | +51 |
| Samuel Stein | USA | 2,399.24 | 143 | 94 | +49 |
| Matt Waxman | USA | 1,751.05 | 296 | 248 | _48 |
DOWN THE LADDER
| PLAYER | NATION | GPI SCORE | LAST | THIS | CHANGE |
| Justin Young | USA | 1,738.05 | 174 | 256 | -82 |
| Andrey Shatilov | RUS | 1,611.15 | 237 | 300 | -63 |
| Dietrich Fast | GER | 1,740.68 | 197 | 255 | -58 |
| Arie Oli Miller | ISR | 1,675.20 | 213 | 271 | -58 |
| Shyam Srinivasan | CAN | 1,811.04 | 164 | 221 | -57 |
| Oleksii Khoroshenin | UKR | 1,826.71 | 156 | 212 | -56 |
| David ‘Doc’ Sands | USA | 2,434.55 | 38 | 86 | -48 |
| Dan Heimiller | USA | 1,756.58 | 168 | 214 | -46 |
| Jose Carlos Garcia | POL | 1,756.58 | 200 | 245 | -45 |
| Fabrice Soulier | FRA | 1,633.27 | 251 | 293 | -42 |
WHO’S IN? / WHO’S OUT?
| ››› GPI300: IN ››› | NATION | GPI# | ‹‹‹ GPI300: OUT ‹‹‹ | NATION | GPI# | |
| Mike Gorodinsky | USA | 162 | David Nicholson | USA | 302 | |
| Daniel Weinman | USA | 202 | Michael Linster | USA | 307 | |
| Timothy Adams | CAN | 234 | Eric Blair | USA | 318 | |
| Leo Fernandez | ARG | 252 | Paul Hoefer | GER | 339 | |
| Chad Eveslage | USA | 260 | Giuliano Bendinelli | ITA | 357 | |
| Joe Ebanks | USA | 283 | Jonathan Karamalikis | AUS | 362 | |
| Charles Carrel | UK | 286 | Chance Kornuth | USA | 367 | |
| Ben Heath | UK | 288 | Emrah Cakmak | FRA | 376 | |
| Simeon Naydenov | BUL | 290 | Ravi Raghavan | USA | 387 | |
| Li-ta Hsu | TAI | 291 | Mayu Roca Uribe | COL | 398 | |
| Jason Koon | USA | 292 | Noah Schwartz | USA | 402 | |
| David Tuthill | USA | 298 | Jose Quintas | POR | 409 | |
| Ryan Van Sanford | USA | 299 | Galen Hall | USA | 502 |
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About the author
Eric Danis’ passion for poker came at a very early age but it’s when writing about and covering the game he loves that Danis is most in his element. Danis is better known for creating www.PTPRpoker.com where he spent a few years covering poker events. Danis is also known for having worked on the poker shows Poker Eh! and The Pulse on the Quad Jacks Network.
