GPI PLAYER OF THE YEAR JULY RECAP: DUHAMEL BRIEFLY REGAINS THE LEAD; DAVID ‘ODB’ BAKER IS THE NEW NUMBER ONE

At the beginning of July,Dan Smith had successfully climbed the GPI Player of the Year standings and into the lead but the view from the top was short lived.  The very next week Jonathan Duhamel, who has lead the race most of the year, was back on top. Duhamel earned 73 points for his cash in the $10,000 NLHE Six-Handed event at the end of the WSOP, enough to bypass Phil Ivey who was in the Number Two spot after his terrific showing at the WSOP, and overtake Smith. However, his return to the top spot was also short lived because David “ODB” Baker was about to go on a cashing spree.

‘ODB’ Shoots to Number One
The same week that Duhamel regained the lead, David ‘ODB’ Baker quietly moved up in the standings. That week he cashed in the $1,500 NLHE event that had almost 2,800 runners and final tabled the $3,000 PLO Hi/Lo event. He earned a combined 112 points for those accomplishments and moved up 26 spots, landing just outside the Top Ten in the 14^th spot. But he wasn’t done. In the following days he made another final table appearance, this time in the $10,000 NLHE National Championship, and then concluded the WSOP by cashing in the Main Event. Those results added another 205 points to his score and not only put him in the Top Ten but sent him straight to the top where he still stands.

Marvin Rettenmaier also moved up during this period. Rettenmaier cashed in the $10,000 NLHE Six-Handed event as well as the Main Event earning a combined 118 points. Those additional points moved him up to Number 2 pushing Duhamel to 3^rd and Smith to 4^th.

Lots of New Faces in the Top Ten
The remainder of the Top Ten changed considerably in the past few weeks, with six of the Top Ten different than a month ago. In addition to Baker, Kyle Julius (PoY#5), Daniel Negreanu (PoY#7), Andrew ‘luckychewy’ Lichtenberger (PoY#8), Samuel Chartier (PoY#9), and Erik Cajelais (PoY#10) all joined the Top Ten. Julius managed to push past Ivey (PoY#6) with cashes in both the WSOP $10,000 NLHE Six-Handed event and the Main Event. Lichtenberger was the second largest mover to join the Top Ten, behind Baker. He earned 196 points for final tabling the $10,000 NLHE Six-Handed event and cashing in the Main Event, moving him up 28 spots.

WPT and EPT Kicking Off
With the new WPT season underway and the EPT tour kicking off in Barcelona mid-month we should expect changes in the GPI Player of the Year leaderboard to continue. We could also begin to see some frontrunners emerge as the action increases and the race draws closer to its end.