September 04 2015, by Eric Danis
GPI Stats: Jason Mercier turns 60!
The first player to ever be ranked #1 on the GPI continues to set the standard in the World Poker Rankings …
Jason Mercier (GPI#1) continued to pave the way for every competitor hoping to take his throne as the most decorated player in the 4+ year history of the Global Poker Index and the World Poker Rankings earlier this week.
Mercier would be ranked #1 in the World for the seventh consecutive week and for the 60th time of his career, becoming the first player to ever cross the 60-week barrier … two years after he was the first (and only) to pass the 50-week mark.
At 41 total weeks, young German superstar Ole Schemion (GPI#40) who, earlier this year, eclipsed Mercier’s consecutive weeks at #1 streak – which Mercier held with former #1 Dan Smith (GPI#31) – is the closest to 60.
GPI WORLD POKER RANKINGS | TOTAL WEEKS AT #1
| RANK | PLAYER | NATION | WEEKS AT #1 |
| #1 | Jason Mercier | USA | 60 (28%) |
| #31 | Ole Schemion | GER | 41 (19%) |
| #40 | Dan Smith | USA | 38 (17%) |
| #32 | Daniel Negreanu | CAN | 19 (9%) |
| #157 | ElkY | FRA | 18 (8%) |
| #169 | Marvin Rettenmaier | GER | 18 (8%) |
| #21 | Erik Seidel | USA | 15 (7%) |
| #4 | Scott Seiver | USA | 4 (2%) |
| #2 | Anthony Zinno | USA | 2 (1%) |
| #256 | Vanessa Selbst | USA | 2 (1%) |
THE FIRST … AND THE LAST (FOR NOW)
Mercier would be the first ever player ranked #1 on the World Poker Rankings when the GPI released their standings for the first time on June 27, 2011. Others in the Top 10 would include Bertrand Grospellier at #2 and Daniel Negreanu at #6. Each player would eventually find their way to the top…
GPI WORLD POKER RANKINGS | JUNE 27, 2011
| 06/27/11 | PLAYER | NATION | TODAY | CAREER BEST |
| #1 | Jason Mercier | USA | #1 | #1 |
| #2 | ElkY | FRA | #157 | #1 |
| #3 | Eugene Katchalov | UKR | #93 | #2 |
| #4 | Fabrice Soulier | FRA | #204 | #3 |
| #5 | Sorel Mizzi | CAN | #22 | #3 |
| #6 | Daniel Negrenau | CAN | #32 | #1 |
| #7 | Tobias Reinkemeier | GER | #323 | #5 |
| #8 | Sam Stein | USA | #688 | #4 |
| #9 | John Juanda | INA | #700 | #9 |
| #10 | David Peters | USA | #25 | #5 |
THE TWO-YEAR DROUGHT
Believe it or not, there was a time where Mercier wasn’t the king of the poker world. For a period of two years, coming off a 17-week streak at #1, Mercier would be unable to return to return to the top as Rettenmaier, Schemion, Negreanu and co. would all take turns at #1, while Mercier would spend some time on the Top 50 bubble, including a career-low #48 ranking on December 26, 2013 (you read that correctly … the lowest Mercier has EVER been ranked is 48th in the World – #WhenWillItEnd).
Let’s take a look at how Mercier got to 60:
| WEEKS AT #1 | FIRST WEEK | LAST WEEK | NEW #1 |
| 3 | Jun 27, 2011 | Jul 11, 2011 | ElkY |
| 4 | Aug 15, 2011 | Sep 5, 2011 | Seidel |
| 1 | Oct 3, 2011 | – | Seidel |
| 4 | Dec 19, 2011 | Jan 9, 2012 | Seidel |
| 11 | Feb 13, 2012 | Apr 23, 2012 | ElkY |
| 10 | Jul 2, 2012 | Sep 3, 2012 | ElkY |
| 3 | Oct 8, 2012 | Oct 22, 2012 | Smith |
| 17 | May 13, 2013 | Sep 4, 2013 | Rettenmaier |
| 7 | Jul 22, 2015 | Ongoing | – |
SEPTEMBER IS NOT TO REMEMBER
Here’s an odd one for you … with the next edition of the GPI World Poker Rankings set for release on September 9, this is already guaranteed to be Mercier’s best September ever in the World Rankings.
Despite heading into September as the leader in each season between 2011 and 2013, Mercier would go on to lose his #1 status by September 5th at the latest in each of those years. In 2014, the WSOP and EPT Champion was in the middle of futility streak.
PREVENTING ElkY FROM MAKING HISTORY?
Were it not for Mercier, would ElkY be the one to dominate the record books? The numbers say YES! ElkY has played second fiddle to the Florida superstar in 47% of the times Mercier has led – that’s 28 weeks where the Frenchman could have sat atop the poker world. ElkY’s name was second only to Mercier in 97% of Mercier’s first 36 weeks sitting atop the GPI World Poker Rankings.
| WEEK | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
| June 27, 2011 | Mercier | ElkY | Katchalov | Soulier | Mizzi |
| July 4, 2011 | Mercier | ElkY | Soulier | Katchalov | Reinkemeier |
| July 11, 2011 | Mercier | ElkY | Katchalov | Sam Stein | Soulier |
| August 15, 2011 | Mercier | Seidel | ElkY | Katchalov | Soulier |
| August 22, 2011 | Mercier | Seidel | ElkY | Katchalov | Soulier |
| August 29, 2011 | Mercier | Seidel | ElkY | Katchalov | Soulier |
| September 5, 2011 | Mercier | Seidel | Katchalov | ElkY | Marchese |
| October 3, 2011 | Mercier | Seidel | ElkY | Katchalov | Mizzi |
| December 19, 2011 | Mercier | ElkY | Seidel | Katchalov | Trickett |
| December 26, 2011 | Mercier | ElkY | Seidel | Katchalov | Trickett |
| January 2, 2012 | Mercier | Seidel | ElkY | Katchalov | Trickett |
| January 9, 2012 | Mercier | Seidel | ElkY | Katchalov | Trickett |
| February 13, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Seidel | Katchalov | Buchanan |
| February 20, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Seidel | Katchalov | Buchanan |
| February 27, 2012 | Mercier | Seidel | ElkY | Buchanan | Selbst |
| March 5, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Seidel | Buchanan | Mizzi |
| March 12, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Buchanan | Doc Sands | Seidel |
| March 19, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Buchanan | Katchalov | Sands |
| March 26, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Buchanan | Katchalov | Sands |
| April 2, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Buchanan | Katchalov | Sands |
| April 9, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Buchanan | Katchalov | Sands |
| April 16, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Sands | Katchalov | Buchanan |
| April 23, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Mizzi | Katchalov | O’Dwyer |
| July 2, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer | Selbst |
| July 9, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer | Duhamel |
| July 16, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Selbst | O’Dwyer | Rettenmaier |
| July 23, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Smith | O’Dwyer | Selbst |
| July 30, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Smith | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer |
| August 6, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Smith | O’Dwyer | Seidel |
| August 13, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Smith | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer |
| August 20, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Smith | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer |
| August 27, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Smith | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer |
| September 3, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Smith | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer |
| October 8, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer | Lichtenberger |
| October 15, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Rettenmaier | Lichtenberger | O’Dwyer |
| October 22, 2012 | Mercier | ElkY | Rettenmaier | Gruissem | Lichtenberger |
| May 13, 2013 | Mercier | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer | Watson | Gruissem |
| May 20, 2013 | Mercier | Rettenmaier | Watson | O’Dwyer | Gruissem |
| May 30, 2013 | Mercier | Rettenmaier | Watson | O’Dwyer | Negreanu |
| June 6, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Negreanu | Watson | O’Dwyer |
| June 14, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Negreanu | Watson | Rettenmaier |
| June 20, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Negreanu | Watson | O’Dwyer |
| June 27, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Negreanu | Watson | O’Dwyer |
| July 4, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Rettenmaier | Negreanu | Cheong |
| July 11, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Watson | Cheong | Rettenmaier |
| July 18, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Rettenmaier | Schemion | Cheong |
| July 25, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Rettenmaier | Schemion | Cheong |
| July 31, 2013 | Mercier | Gruissem | Rettenmaier | Schemion | Cheong |
| August 8, 2013 | Mercier | Cheong | Negreanu | ElkY | Schemion |
| August 14, 2013 | Mercier | Cheong | Negreanu | Watson | Schemion |
| August 21, 2013 | Mercier | Rettenmaier | Cheong | Watson | Schemion |
| August 28, 2013 | Mercier | Rettenmaier | Cheong | Watson | Gruissem |
| September 4, 2013 | Mercier | Rettenmaier | O’Dwyer | Cheong | Gruissem |
| July 22, 2015 | Mercier | Zinno | Smith | Seiver | Chidwick |
| July 29, 2015 | Mercier | Seiver | Zinno | Smith | Chidwick |
| August 5, 2015 | Mercier | Kaverman | Seiver | Zinno | Chidwick |
| August 12, 2015 | Mercier | Kaverman | Seiver | Zinno | Chidwick |
| August 19, 2015 | Mercier | Zinno | Kaverman | Seiver | Chidwick |
| August 26, 2015 | Mercier | Zinno | Kaverman | Volpe | Seiver |
| September 2, 2015 | Mercier | Zinno | Kaverman | Seiver | Petrangelo |
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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.
