Rettenmaier, Merson, Smith Top 2012 Player of the Year Races
Interestingly, while Rettenmaier, Merson, and Smith each occupy the top three spots in both the BLUFF and Card Player rankings, Merson's two bracelets at the 2012 WSOP (including in the Main Event) aren't rated as highly by the Global Poker Index. In the GPI 2012 POY race Smith and Rettenmaier are 1-2, but Merson is way down in 73rd.
The end of the year is upon us, a time when the poker world turns its attention to the various "player of the year" rankings to see who managed to come out on top. With just a few days left in 2012, a look at three of the POY races (BLUFF, Card Player, and the Global Poker Index) shows three different players currently positioned to finish first in the respective rankings -- Marvin Rettenmaier, Greg Merson, and Dan Smith.
Rettenmaier tops BLUFF rankings
Over the years the BLUFF Magazine Poker Player of the Year rankings have emerged as the most frequently cited among the various player ranking systems, with competition among players to position themselves atop the list genuinely providing an extra layer of interest to end-of-year tournaments.
The BLUFF POY formula takes into account buy-in amounts, field sizes, tourney formats, finishing positions, and other factors to assign points for cashing in qualifying events. Last year Eugene Katchalov earned the title of BLUFF Poker Player of the Year, following Sorel Mizzi (2010), Jason Mercier (2009), and John Phan (2008).
This year's BLUFF POY race came down to the final weeks with Dan Smith having occupied the top spot for much of the latter part of the year thanks to an amazing 2012 that began with his winning the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge in January, earning three more victories in events at EPT Monte Carlo in April, and picking up yet another High Roller win at EPT Barcelona in August.
But a victory in the €10,000 buy-in EPT Prague High Roller event this week that drew 113 entrants enabled Marvin Rettenmaier to surge past Smith and into first position in the rankings. "Mad Marvin" has more than 20 significant scores in 2012, including winning the $25K WPT World Championship in April. As it happened, Smith was busy winning an EPT Prague side event as well (the €5,000 6-max. NLHE event), but that event drew too few entries (42) to qualify for BLUFF POY points.
According to BLUFF's Tim Fiorvanti, even though there are still a few small tourneys left to be played in 2012, the magazine is "all but ready to declare Rettenmaier as this year's winner." Here's how their top 10 appears through 12/17/12:
1. Marvin Rettenmaier
2. Dan Smith
3. Greg Merson
4. Joseph Cheong
5. Phil Hellmuth
6. Phil Ivey
7. Michael Mizrachi
8. Ole Schemion
9. Antonio Esfandiari
10. Jonathan Duhamel
Merson current leader for Card Player POY
Card Player magazine has been ranking players and awarding Player of the Year honors since the late 1990s, although in recent years its POY title has perhaps slipped behind BLUFF's in the ranking of POY rankings. Still, it is a coveted honor, won last year by Ben Lamb who followed previous recent winners Tom Marchese (2010), Eric Baldwin (2009), and John Phan (2008).
Like BLUFF, Card Player's ranking system considers buy-ins, field sizes, and finishing positions, although measures each differently. As Erik Fast reported this week for Card Player, 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Greg Merson continues to hang on to the top spot in their POY race despite the end-of-year successes of Rettenmaier and Smith.
Merson, of course, earned the title of WSOP Player of the Year this year thanks to his Main Event win, another bracelet victory in the $10,000 buy-in six-handed NLHE event (No. 57), and two other WSOP cashes including a third final table. In fact, those four cashes alone have been enough to put Merson ahead of everyone in the Card Player rankings, although Smith is just barely behind.
Here's a look at the top of the Card Player standings as it currently appears:
1. Greg Merson
2. Dan Smith
3. Marvin Rettenmaier
4. Kyle Julius
5. Ole Schemion
6. Joseph Cheong
7. Antonio Esfandiari
8. Phil Hellmuth
9. John Dibella
10. Oliver Speidel
Smith Ahead in GPI
Meanwhile, the relatively new Global Poker Index has Dan Smith currently leading the way in its POY 2012 Top 100, followed by Rettenmaier in second position and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier in third. Grospellier is having a remarkable 2012 with numerous cashes and final tables totaling nearly $1.7 million in tourney winnings.
The GPI ranking system was originally developed in concert with the ill-fated Epic Poker League for which it was employed to determine player eligibility for EPL events. While the EPL was no more, the GPI lives on and provides numerous rankings of players according to various categories.
For the 2012 Player of the Year race, the GPI also applies its complicated rubric to tourney finishes, though ultimately isolates a player's top 11 cashes during the calendar year (six during Jan.-June and five during July-Dec.). While only the most successful players even have that many 2012 cashes, that does affect the rankings in some cases.
The GPI formula also differently considers buy-ins, finishes, field sizes, and other factors to create its ranking system. Interestingly, Greg Merson is only rated 73rd in the GPI 2012 rankings. Meanwhile, Grospellier, third in the GPI list, is currently ranked 42nd by BLUFF and 47th by Card Player.
1. Dan Smith
2. Marvin Rettenmaier
3. Bertrand Grospellier
4. Kyle Julius
5. Andrew Lichtenberger
6. Joseph Cheong
7. Phil Hellmuth
8. Jonathan Duhamel
9. Jason Mercier
10. Stephen O'Dwyer
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
