WSOP Player of the Year Award

Every year the World Series of Poker awards the most consistent player of the series with the coveted Player of the Year award. To win the Player of the Year award, a player has to accumulate the most Player of the Year (POY) points. Each WSOP tournament awards a specific number of POY points to all prize winners based on each player's finish in the tournament. At the end of every WSOP, the POY points are totaled up, and the player with the most points receives the Player of the Year award.

Most professional poker players consider the WSOP Player of the Year award to be the most prestigious award in tournament poker. Since the award goes to the most consistent player throughout the tournament, players have to be able to switch gears from game to game and format to format quickly and effectively.

Calculating Player of the Year Points

Each WSOP tournament (minus Employees-, Ladies-, and Seniors-only events) awards POY points to every player who cashes the tournament. The first place finisher receives the most points, and each successive finisher receives fewer and fewer points. Players who do not cash the event receive no points whatsoever.

There are four different models the WSOP uses to award points: one for normal events, which is called the Standard Points Model, one for the No Limit Hold'em Shootout events (events #22 and #41), one for the Heads Up event (event #29), and one for the Limit Hold'em Shootout event (event #50). The following charts show the points awarded for each finisher in each type of tournament:

Standard Points Model

The standard points model is used for every event in the World Series of Poker, minus the exceptions listed below:

No Limit Hold'em Shootout Model (Event 11)

Event 11 is a shootout tournament, which means that players are all seated at 9 man tables, and play at that table until one man/woman has every chip. Then, the winners all are compiled into new 9 man tables, and play again until one person has all the chips. Eventually, they get down to a final table, and play it like a sit and go to determine the winner.

No Limit Hold'em Shootout Model (Event 17)

Event 17 has the same structure as event 11, but the buy-in is a $1,500 as opposed to the $5,000 buy-in for event 11. Here is the player of the year points structure:

Heads Up Championship Model (Event 25)

Event 25 is a $10,000 heads up tournament which is termed the "World Heads Up Championship". In this format each player is seated at a two man table, and play until one player has all the chips. Whoever wins the match moves on to the next level, and it plays out in bracket style matches until one player is remaining.

Limit Hold'em Shootout (Event 53)

This tournament is a $1,500 buy-in shootout, similar to events 11 and 17, but instead of No Limit Hold'em, the tournament is played Fixed Limit style.

Remember that the Ladies-, Seniors-, and Employees-only events do not award POY points.

Past WSOP Players of the Year

The Player of the Year Award was first issued in 2004; here are the winners of the award each year:

• 2004 WSOP Player of the Year - Daniel Negreanu with one bracelet, five final tables, and six cashes.
• 2005 WSOP Player of the Year - Allen Cunningham with one bracelet, four final tables, and five cashes.
• 2006 WSOP Player of the Year - Jeff Madsen with two bracelets, two final tables, and four cashes.
• 2007 WSOP Player of the Year - Tom Schneider with two bracelets, three final tables, and three cashes.
• 2008 WSOP Player of the Year - Erick Lindgren with one bracelet, three final tables, and five cashes.
• 2009 WSOP Player of the Year - Jeff Lisandro with three bracelets, four final tables, and six cashes.

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