GPI 300 Update: ACOP and Master Classics of Poker Festivals Move Players Up the Rankings

The top of the rankings remain unchanged this week with Dan Smith (GPI#1), Jason Mercier (GPI#2), Marvin Rettenmaier (GPI#3), and Bertrand Grospellier (GPI#4) all holding onto their ranks from last week. The remainder of the Top Twenty sees quite a bit of movement however. Mike Watson (GPI#8 +2), Bryn Kenney (GPI#13 +2), and Sorel Mizzi (GPI#19 +1) all move up thanks to posting new scores and a handful of other players change ranks due to aging results.

Mike ‘SirWatts’ Watson moves up 2 spots to GPI#8 after cashing in the Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) HK$95,000 NLHE Main Event. This new score replaces his score for cashing in the WSOP-E €10,000 NLHE Mixed Max event for a net gain of 32 points. He picks up an additional 8 points because his 7^th place finish in the 2011 BC Poker Championships C$4,600 NLHE High Roller ages into Period 3 replacing a cash from the EPT/UK & Ireland Poker Tour – London £2,000 NLHE event. ACOP action caused big moves elsewhere in the rankings also. Jonathan Karamilikis won the ACOP HK$240,000 NLHE High Rollers event and has the distinction of having the largest gain in both rank and score this week. Karamilikis earned 419 points for his win and moves up a whopping 152 spots to GPI#107. Karamilikis double dipped at the ACOP, also cashing in the HK$13,800 NLHE event. The 5^th place finisher in the NLHE High Roller, David Steicke (GPI#129 +60), also gets a big bump in rank this week and runner-up Jeffrey Rossiter makes an impressive GPI 300 debut, leaping into the GPI Elite at GPI#112. Rossiter earned 340 points for his runner-up finish and an additional 298 points for winning the HK$23,000 NLHE ACOP Warm –Up. To win the latter event he had to beat out perennial GPI 300 ranked Joseph Cheong (GPI#50 +1) who finished 3^rd.

Another Top Twenty ranked player to add points to their score this week is Bryn Kenney. Kenney finished 6^th in the Masters Classic of Poker €5,000 NLHE Main Event. That score replaces his score for finishing 7^th in the WSOP $5,000 Seven Card Stud for a net gain of 68 points and a two spot jump in rank to GPI#13. Kenney was beaten in this event by Ole Schemion who won the event and gets a huge boost in rank thanks to the 403 points he earned for his victory. Schemion moves up 126 spots to GPI#89. Kristijonas Andrulis (GPI#74) also made the final table and moves up 3 spots this week. Alexander Roumeliotis (GPI#275) cashed in the Main Event and makes his GPI 300 debut. The Masters Classic of Poker festival was particularly successful for Roumeliotis. In addition to his Main Event cash he also final tabled the €10,000 NLHE High Roller.

The final Top Twenty ranked player to post a new score is Sorel Mizzi (GPI#19 +1). Mizzi cashed in the Wynn Fall Classic $1,500 NLHE Main Event which was ultimately won by Chris Bjorin (GPI#251 0). Mizzi’s new score replaces his score for his 8^th place finish in the Festa Al Lago $1,500 NLHE event for a net gain of 34 points.

The remainder of the changes to the Top Twenty were the result of aging scores, mostly from the 2011 EPT Grand Final. Steve O’Dwyer (GPI#5 +2) and Andrew ‘LuckyChewy’ Lichtenberger (GPI#7 -2) swap places this week. O’Dwyer’s 5^th place finish in the 2011 Ninth Annual Five Star World Poker Classic $5,000 NLHE event was being excluded by the four cash cap last week. This week it ages into Period 4 where he had an open slot so he gains 39 points. Lichtenberger has two 2011 EPT Grand Finale scores aging into Period 4 this week. His win in the €5,000 NLHE Heads-Up event and his 5^th place finish in the NLHE €1,000 Bounty event. The Heads-Up score is 55 points lower in the new aging Period and his Bounty score is excluded by the cap for an additional loss of 38 points. Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald (GPI#14 +2) moves up two spots for the same reason as O’Dwyer, one of his scores, 5^th place in the 2011 EPT Grand Final €10,000 NLHE High Roller Turbo, was being excluded in Period 3 but ages into Period 4 where he does not have a full complement of results adding 43 points to his overall score. Finally, Eugene Katchalov falls 3 spots to GPI#16 due to his 27^th place in the 2011 EPT Grand Final aging into Period 4. It replaces his runner-up finish in the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 NLHE High Roller 6-Max event. It is then replaced in Period 3 by his 4^th place finish in the 2011 WSOP $1,500 Shootout. The impact to his overall score is a loss of 68 points.

Coming Up

The first ever WPT Copenhagen festival is in full swing and the Main Event is underway. With many GPI ranked players in attendance look for it to shake up the rankings over the next couple of weeks.