August 08 2014, by Eric Danis

World Poker Tour strengthens partnership with Global Poker Index

WPT® to use GPI for Season XIII Player of the Year race

Los Angeles, CA (August 7, 2014) — World Poker Tour® announced today that the Season XIII WPT® Player of the Year award will be powered by the Global Poker Index™. Also, for the first time ever, the Player of the Year race will include not only the WPT Main Tour Events, but WPT500, WPTDeepStacks, and WPT National Events as well.

The poker ranking authority, GPI has revolutionized the poker world by streamlining live tournament rankings and creating one system to link every event on every marquee tour. Points are awarded based upon the GPI formula, which takes into account buy-in, field size, and finish. In addition to powering the Season XIII WPT Player of the Year race, GPI will also directly integrate their Fantasy Poker Manager into WPT.com, allowing fantasy poker players to engage even more with the World Poker Tour.

“I’m thrilled to expand our relationship with the World Poker Tour and to help promote the WPT as a whole,” said GPI CEO Alexandre Dreyfus. “In the United States, the success of fantasy games correlates strongly with the popularity of many sports, and we believe the same rings true for poker. Our Fantasy Poker Manager advocates engagement from both hardcore and casual fans of the game.”

WPT President Adam Pliska adds, “I applaud Alexandre Dreyfus and the Global Poker Index for taking positive steps to professionalize the sport. The GPI ranking system will allow more WPT players, regardless of the WPT offering they choose, to participate in the Season XIII Player of the Year race and provide better indicators for players throughout the entire season.”

Fantasy Poker Manager players will be able to create their World Poker Tour roster and compete against one another during every WPT Main Event, including the upcoming WPT Legends of Poker. Plus, for the first time in the World Poker Tour’s rich history, players will be able to accrue WPT Player of the Year points in WPT500, WPTDeepStacks, and WPT National Events. The winner of the Season XIII WPT Player of the Year will receive several special benefits for Season XIV, including amenities and ground transportation at many of the first-class destinations on the World Poker Tour.

WPTDeepstacks will also run their own Player of the Year race using the GPI formula, and the winner will receive a buy-in to the Season XIII WPT World Championship, along with hotel, airfare, and buy-ins to select WPTDeepstacks events, and a custom-made trophy.

For more details on World Poker Tour events, sponsors and promotions, please visit www.WPT.com.

About World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour (WPT) is the premier name in internationally televised gaming and entertainment with brand presence in land-based tournaments, television, online, and mobile. Leading innovation in the sport of poker since 2002, WPT ignited the global poker boom with the creation of a unique television show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments. WPT has broadcast globally in more than 150 countries and territories, and is currently producing its 13th season, which airs on FSN in the United States. Season XIII of WPT is sponsored by ClubWPT.com, a unique online membership site that offers inside access to the WPT, as well as a sweepstakes-based poker club available in 35 states across the United States. ClubWPT.com also sponsors Season 2 of the new WPT Alpha8 series of super-high roller poker tournaments which is currently in production and which airs on FOX Sports 1 in the United States. WPT participates in strategic brand license, partnership, and sponsorship opportunities. WPT Enterprises Inc. is a subsidiary of bwin.party digital entertainment plc. For more information, go to WPT.com.

About Global Poker Index
Global Poker Index (GPI) is a ranking of live tournament poker players in the world. Players are ranked weekly based on their performance in qualifying live tournaments occurring over the previous 36-month period. Each player’s individual GPI score is an aggregate of scores in events over the previous 36-month period, measured from the day the GPI is calculated. The score for a given event is derived from a combination of their finishing place percentage, buy-in and aging factor. Aging factor refers to the weighting of results by their recency, where more recent results are weighted more heavily than past results. The GPI limits results to five results per six months for the most recent year, and four results per six months for the two previous years for a maximum total of 26 scores per 36 month aggregation period.

 

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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.