GPI 300 Update: Cheong Reaches Top Twenty; WPT Results Boost Scores

The largest jump in rank and the largest score gain this week go to Jeff Gross (GPI#119 +115). Gross finished 3^rd in the World Poker Tour C$3,000 NLHE Main Event in Montreal, earning 338 points and getting a huge boost in the rankings. The second largest score gain of the week goes to Gavin Smith who finished just behind Gross in Montreal. Smith picks up 265 points for his 4^th place finish and moves up 57 spots to GPI#63. Top Twenty ranked Mike McDonald also cashed in the Main Event and moves up 2 spots to GPI#13. The 14^th place finisher, Amanda Musumeci , makes her GPI 300 debut this week at GPI#258.

The WPT Mazagan Main Event also brings new names to the top of the Index. Giacomo Fundaro (GPI#230), Bruno Fitoussi (GPI#271), and Paul Tedeschi (GPI#234), all join the GPI Elite for the first time after making the Mazagan Main Event final table. In the end it was Fundaro who came out on top, earning 312 points and the highest ranking debut of the week. To make the final table and secure their place among the world’s best they had to get past fellow GPI 300 ranked Bruno Lopes (GPI#100 -8) andFabrice Soulier (78 +18). Lopes and Soulier just missed the final table, finishing 11^th and 12^th respectively. To win Fundaro also had to outlast perennial GPI 300 rankedDavidi Kitai. Kitai earned 225 points for his 4^th place finish and moves up 44 spots to GPI#71.

The Bellagio in Las Vegas also saw the conclusion of WPT events this week. The Five Diamond World Poker Classic is in full swing and a many of the GPI Elite turned out for the action. Thomas Marchese (GPI#23 +2) won the $2,500 NLHE event in which he was joined at the final table by several other GPI 300 ranked players including Top Twenty ranked David  ‘Doc’ Sands (GPI#12 -2). Sands finished 6^th, outlasting Ray Qartomy (GPI#279 +11) who went out in 8^th place but was off the felt beforePaul Lieu (GPI#215 +16) and Justin Young (GPI#202 +19) who finished 3^rd and 5^th.

Zach Clark was the runner-up in the Five Diamond Classic $5,000 NLHE event and his 126 point net gain this week allowed him to reach the GPI Top One Hundred for the first time. The 4^th place finisher, Sam Stein, moves up 20 spots to GPI#53 and 7^th place finisher Brian Rast (GPI#121) rides his 236 point net gain up 72 spots to his highest rank to date. Matt Stout rounded out the final table earning 152 points and moving up 51 spots to GPI#155.

Cheong and Juanda Join the Top Twenty

Another player who cashed at the Bellagio was Joseph Cheong (GPI#20 +15). Cheong finished 17^th in the $1,500 NLHE event but the new result does not help his GPI score because he already has four higher Period 1 scores. However, all of those excess results do help his score. His runner-up finish in the WSOP $5,000 NLHE Mixed Max event ages into Period 2 this week where he previously only had one score. It is replaced in Period 1 by his cash in the WSOP Main Event. That gives him a net score gain of 179 points and he enjoys a place in the Top Twenty for the first time. Likewise, John Juanda (GPI#17 +17) has WSOP scores aging this week and also only had one Period 2 score previously. Juanda gains 263 points and rejoins the Top Twenty thanks mostly to three WSOP results aging, his cashes in the $1,500 NLHE, $1,500 NLHE Re-entry, and the $1,500 PLH. None of those results were previously counting in Period 1 so his Period 1 score remains the same and he picks up three additional Period 2 scores.

Phil Hellmuth (GPI#5 +4), Vanessa Selbst (GPI#6 +5), and Michael Mizrachiin rank as a result. Hellmuth reaches his highest rank to date thanks to the aging of his cashes in the $1,500 NLHE and the $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo events. He gains a combined 145 points for those in Period 2. Additionally, his cash in the 2010 WSOP $1,500 NLHE event ages into Period 6 where he did not have three scores and is replaced in Period 5 for a gain of 12 points bringing his total score gain to 157 points. Vanessa Selbst ‘s 4^th place finish in the $1,500 NLHE event was being excluded by the four cash cap in Period 1 but now gives her an additional 141 points in Period 2 and she returns to the Top Ten. Also returning to the Top Ten is ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi. His 5^th place finish in the WSOP $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo ages into Period 2 and is replaced by his 4^th place finish in the $1,500 WSOP NL 2-7 Draw Lowball event for a net gain of 91 points. In addition, two of his 2010 WSOP scores age into Period 6 and fill empty slots. They are replaced in Period 5 for an additional 35 point gain.

On the Horizon

The Global Poker Index rankings will likely continue to be volatile as the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic continues on at the Bellagio and the EPT Prague heats up. With Main Events wrapping up in both places over the next week there is a good chance the rankings will again be full of big movements.