GPI300: Schemion matches personal best; Kaverman surging

Ole still trending while Byron is on the cups of a return to the Top 10…

VIEW FROM THE TOP

German star Ole Schemion (GPI#1, =) matches a personal best this week, spending his eighth straight week ranked atop the GPI World Poker Rankings. Schemion last spent 8 weeks at #1 in 2014, between April and June. Schemion remains the only player with over 4,000 points on the rankings.

Jason Mercier (GPI#4, +1) and Bryn Kenney (GPI#5, -1) switch spots at #4 and #5. Mercier, a former World #1, finished second in a prelim event at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open, currently taking place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Mercier’s home state of Florida.

Just like Mercier and Kenney, Jonathan Duhamel (GPI#9, +1) and Dan Smith (GPI#10, -1) also trade positions this week. The 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion kicked things off in style this season following a deep run in the Main Event and a side event victory at the 2015 PCA.

While the members of the Top 10 remain the same for a second consecutive week, one former Top 10 member made giants strides in making his way back this week. Former World #3 Byron Kaverman (GPI#11, +39) earned back-to-back final four finishes in the latest High Roller events at the ARIA in Las Vegas and sees himself on the Top 10 bubble this week. Kaverman was last ranked inside the Top 10 in December.

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SWIMMING UPSTREAM

Just like Kaverman, Thomas Marchese (GPI#42, +135) also enjoyed his fair share of success at the ARIA, actually winning both $25,000 buy-in High Roller events, earning $680K for two-days work! The former World #5 reached his highest ranking on the GPI since sitting 38th in September of 2013.

A pair of star players, Kevin MacPhee (GPI#40, +34) and Dominik Nitsche (GPI#35, +21), each cracked the Top 40 this week. For MacPhee, it’s his best ranking this season while Nitsche earns his best ranking in four months.

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DOWN THE LADDER

A week after storming his way back into the GPI300 for the first time in five months, poker superstar Phil Ivey (GPI#210, -47) drops almost 50 spots this week. No word yet on when Ivey will play his next poker tournament although don’t be shocked to see him play the WPT L.A. Poker Classic next week. Ivey won the LAPC back in 2008.

Ivey isn’t the only big name dropping in the ranks this week as Isaac Haxton (GPI#238, -54), J.C. Tran (GPI#197, -46), Fabian Quoss (GPI#291, -42) and Mike McDonald (GPI#41, -28) all take a tumble in the standings.

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IN-N-OUT

A few weeks after dropping out of the GPI300 for the very first time in his career, Antonio Esfandiari (GPI#253) was able to find his way back into the elite group this week following a 3rd place finish in one of the two ARIA High Roller events last week in Vegas.

On the flip side, a pair of WSOP gold bracelet winners – Athanasios Polychronopoulos (GPI#319) and Joey Weissman (GPI#326) are two of the 13 players to exit the 300 this week.

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