GPI300: Marvin Moves Up – Kid Poker, Frankenberger Fall

Some shake up in the standings as Mad Marvin wins Cyprus High Roller, Kid Poker falls a bit and a former WPT Player of the Year leaves the GPI300:

VIEW FROM THE TOP

No changes at the very top. For the 15th consecutive week, Jason Mercier (GPI#1, -) is the king of the mountain, still holding onto a 126-point lead. Mercier jumps back onto the poker circuit this week as he plays the 10M Guaranteed Main Event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in Florida. Soon after, Mercier will hop on a plane to Spain where he will look to pick up where he left off (in Monte Carlo) on the European Poker Tour and add to his points lead as EPT Barcelona is sure to include plenty of events that will qualify for GPI points.

While nothing changes at the very top, we do have a major shakeup as Marvin Rettenmaier (GPI#2, +4) makes a big jump. Marvin was certainly disappointed by not being able to make it to Day 2 in the Main Event at the WPT Merit Cyprus Classic, thus ending his search for a second Cyprus title in as many seasons, but, the German superstar was able to make up for lost time and win the Cyprus High Roller event, defeating Roger Hairabedian heads-up.

The win catapults Rettenmaier to #2 overall and puts him in a familiar position. Mad Marvin held the #1 or the #2 spot for the first five months of the 2013 season. Originally scheduled to make the trip to Florida to play the SHRPO, Marvin will instead take a few days off and concentrate his efforts on EPT Barcelona as a passport problem forced him to stay in Europe.

On the flip side, the GPI Top 10 see-saw continues to haunt Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu (GPI#7, -4). Just two weeks moving back up inside the Top 3, Negreanu sees his stock fall once again, placing him seventh overall this week.

Philipp Gruissem (GPI#6, +1) moves up a spot while Joseph Cheong (GPI#3, -1) drops one position this week … status quo for all other members of the Top 10.

GPI TOP 10:

[table id=270 /]

SWIMMING UPSTREAM

A final table appearance in the Running Aces Tournament of Champions in Columbus, Minnesota helped Rodger Johnson (GPI#215, +74) make the biggest push inside the GPI300 this week. The circuit veteran is quietly enjoying the best season of his career.

A seventh place finish in the WPT Cyprus High Roller event was good enough to move Vladimir Troyanovskiy (GPI#79, +56) inside the Top 100 on the GPI charts. The points accumulated in Cyprus also helps Troyanovskiy (pictured, right) to move up to fourth overall on the GPI National Russia rankings.

Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event Champion Tom Alner (GPI#134, +19) and French star “Big Roger” Roger Hairabedian (GPI#29, +19), who finished second to Mad Marvin in the Cyprus High Roller are two other notables who made significants moves this week.

This week’s Top 10 Movers within the GPI:

[table id=271 /]

DOWN THE LADDER

Anaras Alekberovas (GPI#231, -61) took the biggest tumble this week. The GPI Points Alekberovas accumulated in the Estrellas Poker Barcelona Main Event continue to lose value, the Lithuanian will need to pick up points soon.

Rising star Joni Jouhkimainen (GPI#81, -41) also fell hard this week although it’s not all bad news for the Finn as EPT Barcelona is right around the corner. Barcelona is where Jouhkimainen (pictured, right) enjoyed his breakout performance, finishing third in the EPT Main Event and earning the respect of several other poker pros with his play at the table.

Fan favourites Pierre Neuville (GPI#271, -56) and Jonathan Karamalikis (GPI#81, -41) are two other pros who unfortunately took a tumble in the standings this week.

This week’s Top 10 Drops within the GPI:

[table id=272 /]

IN-N-OUT

Australian Daniel Laidlaw (GPI# 218, +101) continues his red-hot August by moving up another 100+ spots in the standings. After a second place finish at ANZPT Snowfest and a Main Event victory in the Sydney Championships, Laidlaw earned a cash in the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon event to push his way into the GPI300, gaining over 250 spots in the rankings over the past three weeks.

WSOP bracelet winner and WPT World Champion David Williams (pictured, right), Corey Burbick and the duo of Tommy Vedes and Eric Sfez – who continue to dance in and out of the Top 300, are amongst the list of other players “IN” this week.

Former WPT Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger’s tough 2013 campaign continues with him losing his status amongst the GPI300. Other than a few cashes at this summer’s WSOP, Frankenberger has had it rough on the live tournament circuit. Other than scores at the WSOP/WSOPE in the past two seasons, Frankenberger’s last score was at EPT Vienna in April of 2012. To be fair, one of those WSOP cashes came at the 2012 WSOP where the American won the second bracelet of his career.

Frankenberger isn’t the only big name out this week as former November Niner John Dolan, WSOP bracelet winner Marco  Johnson, Ilan Boujenah and EPT Barcelona Super High Roller runner-up Juan Carlos Alvarado join Frankenberger on the outside looking in.

This week’s GPI300 In and Out List:

[table id=273 /]