Who is Leading the WSOP Player of the Year Race?

From Scott Seiver to ‘Big Huni’, Shaun Deeb to Phil Ivey, the race to become the 2024 WSOP Player of the Year is on. There is a 2025 WSOP Main Event seat, a unique trophy and the world-famous Player of the Year banner at the Paris or Horseshoe casino on the line, as well as bragging rights. Let’s take a look at the players who have put themselves in pole position to win and who they’re looking to emulate in 2024.

The Current Clubhouse Leaders

It’s no exaggeration to say that the current leaderboard (above) shows us the closest WSOP Player of the Year fight in many years. Six players are all above 2,000 points already and at the top of the tree sit players with multiple WSOP bracelets as well as many deep runs in previous POY races.

Marginally ahead is Scott Seiver, the only player to currently have two WSOP wins under his belt already this summer in Las Vegas. Seiver sits on 2,736 points and has already declared his desperation to conquer the Player of the Year leaderboard and get his flag on the wall of either the Horseshoe or Paris casino.

Chris Hunichen has won his first WSOP bracelet in this year’s WSOP and after conquering that High Roller, ran all the way to third place in the Super High Roller. A strong performance in the Poker Players Championship may well seal the deal for him if Seiver is unable to rack up huge points and those immediately below him don’t pick up another bracelet.

Jeremy Ausmus already has multiple final tables under his belt and came second to Hunichen for that high roller crown after ‘Big Huni’ hit a two-outer on the river to deny Ausmus victory. With 2,457 points, the six-time WSOP bracelet winner hasn’t won his seventh yet, but if he does, watch out. John Racener (2,313 points) has been in the race before, losing out to Ferguson in a very famous year, while Phil Ivey (2,152) and Shaun Deeb (2,146) simply score so heavily that they have to be fancied.

Verdict: If we were to pick one player from this group of favorites, it would probably be Jeremy Ausmus. Consistently putting himself in the upper limits of the very highest events, his top 10 scores are likely to be incredible.

Previous Winners of the POY Award

As you can see below, previous winners in the past decade (minus a year off for COVID) include Josh Arieh, Shaun Deeb and Daniel Negreanu. Controversy around players such as Chris Ferguson (2017) winning the award by min-cashing more events than most eventually led to rules now only allowing each player’s top 10 cashes in events rather than an accumulation of quantity over quality.

Here are all the previous winners of the WSOP Player of the Year.

The Chasing Pack

Who might make a race for the line from the chasing pack behind the current leaders who all sit over 2,000 points? Well, it is impossible to look past the only Brazilian player in the top 10, Yuri Dzivielevski. Sat on 1,983 points, the impressive online poker legend has already won big at this year’s WSOP and seems to be a perennial fixture on Day 2s this year.

David Prociak (1,952) took several years to win his first WSOP bracelet before almost winning two inside a week. He’s the only player other than Scott Seiver to have led going into two final days of bracelets events and selling his action on PokerStake is likely to help him spread any variance and take the pressure off him on the home straight.

Robert Mizrachi (1,903) has snuck up on the rails a little this series, at least he had until he won Event #42, the Dealer’s Choice Championship for over $333,000. With seven cashes already, the mixed game specialist may well have the luxury of cashing more than 10 times, which means his lowest-ranked cash will consistently be improved upon.

Verdict: There are a whole heap of mixed games still to come and with Robert Mizrachi already having cashed seven times, this strengthens the hand of one of the most consistently successful mixed game players – and bracelet winners – of all time. Never count him out.

Outside Chances

While anyone inside the top 10 places is obviously at an advantage by having more points on the board by the halfway stage of the Player of the Year race, a few legends hovering on the fringes of the top 10 are well in contention. PokerGO Commentator and now five-time WSOP winner Nick Schulman sits in 11^th place on 1,890 points and is still a viable threat to the top table, playing – and winning – everything in recent years. With six cashes already, Schulman’s record in big ticket events means he’s a massive danger to those above him.

Schulman’s 13^th-placed fellow American Daniel Sepiol (1,803) already has seven live WSOP cashes and four online cashes this series. While three of those online cashes don’t help him – only one online cash counts towards your points total – Sepiol’s consistency after winning the Shootout Event #23 for $305,000 is staggering. To win that event, Sepiol effectively had to dominate three final tables… and did so, winning them all.

Swedish star Viktor Blom (1,800) is in 14th spot and with third place finishes in both the $50,000 and $100,000 High Roller events, is a huge threat if he continues to play well in the big entry events. Currently running well in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, any outright win for Blom could make him unstoppable.

The same is true for Chance Kornuth (16^th on 1,739 points) and Benny Glaser (26^th on 1,589). Kornuth has been unlucky not to close one out yet in terms of the outright win, while Benny Glaser keeps reaching final tables in mixed games; he’s likely to win one.

Verdict: Whoever puts on a good sprint for the line from the outsiders has a chance, but we’ve been so impressed with Daniel Sepiol’s dedication after winning his bracelet that he just gets the nod from us. The man is playing everything and playing each event very well indeed.

In Conclusion

Whoever wins the race to become 2024 WSOP Player of the Year, one thing is for sure: you’ll never forget their face. With the winner’s flag to adorn either of the WSOP venues next year, the memories they make this summer will never be forgotten.