Ausmus and Seiver Lead WSOP Player of the Year Race
The World Series of Poker Player of the Year race always tightens up around the middle of the WSOP, and the 2024 situation is no different. As the results are updated, more players have climbed toward the top. Many of those in those spots will be playing quite a few events through the last few weeks of the series, making this anyone’s POY title.
As of the start of the 2024 Main Event, most bracelet events slow down in favor of the massive time and attention devoted to the World Championship. But considering the Main Event is only Event 81 out of 99, there are plenty of opportunities for players to shake up the Player of the Year leaderboard.
As of this posting, the leaderboard shows:
- 1. Scott Seiver = 3,973.74 points
- 2. Jeremy Ausmus = 3,510.55 points
- 3. Chance Kornuth = 3,314.18 points
- 4. Chris Hunichen = 2,976.39 points
- 5. David Prociak = 2,921.93 points
The rest of the top ten includes Yuri Dzivielevski, Phil Ivey, John Racener, Francis Anderson, and Patrick Moulder. But a little further down, threats come from Viktor Blom, Shaun Deeb, and Joseph Couden. There are just enough events left on the schedule that someone could jump up and scramble the list. No one can claim the Player of the Year title for 2024 yet.
Seiver Seeks Domination
Scott Seiver has long been considered one of the greatest players in the game. He’s consistently one of the highest live tournament earners of all time. Currently, he ranks 31st on that all-time money list with more than $26.7M in earnings, per the Hendon Mob database.
This summer, Seiver went into the World Series of Poker with some goals, and he has achieved some of them. He is already the standout bracelet winner with three of them this year – so far – and is one of the few players to ever be able to do that. And that third one this year put him at seven bracelets in WSOP history, alongside names like Daniel Negreanu, John Hennigan, Billy Baxter, and Men Nguyen.
His WSOP has been filled with accomplishments – 15 WSOP bracelet event cashes including three wins. Only his top 10 results count toward POY points, but he has plenty from which to choose.
Ausmus Does It Without Bracelets
Jeremy Ausmus has a long history of consistent results, but his last few years have been delivered the best tournament results of his life. The current year is already his bet ever with more than $4.1M. Altogether, the Hendon Mob database shows him recently eclipsing the $20.6M mark for total live tournament earnings to date, putting him in 50th place – the highest ranking for him to date.
With six WSOP bracelets to his credit thus far – his most recent in a 2023 WSOP Online High Roller event – he already has 17 cashes in this year’s WSOP. That includes several final tables, including the $10K NL 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship, the $50K Poker Players Championship, $250K Super High Roller, $2500 NLHE Freezeout, and $1,500 NLHE Shootout.
His best finish thus far was second place in the $100K High Roller, losing to Chris Hunichen who captured his very first WSOP bracelet and has been climbing the POY leaderboard as well.
Big Moves for Big Huni
Chris Hunichen hit a milestone in his poker career at the 2024 WSOP. Sure, he eclipsed $16M in lifetime live tournament earnings to go with millions in online winnings over the past two decades, but he also won his first WSOP bracelet.
Hunichen has 12 cashes in this year’s series so far, but his winnings have been massive. His two final tables were in High Roller tournaments – a win in the $100K NLHE High Roller for more than $2.8M and third in the $250K NLHE Super High Roller for nearly $2.4M. But it was that bracelet for his Event 47 victory that meant the most to him, a tangible reward for his years of hard work and nearly 100 WSOP career cashes.
Kornuth Climbs with Recent Win
It is never a surprise to find Chance Kornuth in a POY race or in a winner’s circle. He has more than $18.5M in lifetime live tournament earnings and continues to improve his own game while running Chip Leader Coaching.
At this year’s summer WSOP, Kornuth has already accumulated 14 cashes, putting him at 99 for lifetime WSOP cashes. And of note, one of his 2024 cashes was a win in Event 85, the $1K Flip & Go NLHE tournament for his fourth career bracelet. This pushed him up to third on the WSOP POY leaderboard, and he’s now in the running for the title.
New Calculations for 2024 POY
As noted when this summer’s World Series of Poker began, the Player of the Year race has new rules. Not only does it only count results from the summer events in Las Vegas, there is only one summer WSOP Online result that can count toward final points. And players must have at least five results in total to get on the POY list.
Once the WSOP concludes this year, players will undoubtedly weigh in on the new POY rules and how they played out.
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