By Sean Chaffin
After five days of action at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Ping Liu made some big gains in the Hublot Player of the Year Race, but Tony Ruberto still stands atop the standings.
At Bellagio, Liu finished fourth for $599,147 and earned 1,000 points. That launched him all the way up to second place with 1,550 points, behind Ruberto. “Boston Tony” added 50 points after finishing 104th at Bellagio for $19,332 and leads the pack with 1,850 points.
Hublot Season XVII WPT Player of the Year Top 10 (as of December 16, 2018)
1st: Tony Ruberto – 1,850 points
2nd: Ping Liu – 1,550 points
3rd: Dylan Linde – 1,400 points
4th: Erkut Yilmaz – 1,300 points
5th: Sorel Mizzi – 1,300 points
6th: Simon Lam – 1,250 points
7th: Milos Skrbic – 1,200 points
8th: Patrick Serda – 1,200 points
9th: Pavel Plesuv – 1,200 points
10th: Brady Holiman – 1,200 points
Click here for full standings.
For earning the championship at Five Diamond, Dylan Linde accumulated a whopping 1,400 points after winning $1.63 million and vaulted all the way up to third place. WPT Borgata Poker Open champ Erkut Yilmaz missed cashing at Five Diamond and slides down to fourth place with 1,300 points and $594,272 in winnings.
Just behind him is Sorel Mizzi, who notched his second deep run on the Main Tour at Bellagio. After finishing third at the WPT Montreal for $313,320 (900 points) and 12th at Five Diamond for $383,399 (400 points). Mizzi now sits in fifth place with 1,300 points and $444,860 in winnings.
Simon Lam is just behind him with 1,250 points in sixth place. The winner of the WPT Gardens Poker Festival finished 45th at the Five Diamond for $36,945 and earned an extra 50 points to bring his total up to 1,250.
For finishing runner-up in Five Diamond, Serbian Milos Skrbic sits in seventh place after earning 1,200 points and $1,087,603. WPT Montreal winner Patrick Serda slides down to the eighth-place slot with 1,200 points ($668,388).
Also with 1,200 points, Pavel Plesuv is in ninth after his win for $504,820 at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open and WPT Choctaw winner Brady Holliman moves down to 10th with $469,185 in winnings.
What Can You Win in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year Race?
As the official timekeeper and official watch of the World Poker Tour, Hublot is once again the presenting sponsor of the WPT Player of the Year award and will be awarding a custom Hublot timepiece to the winner of the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. Additionally, the Season XVII winner will receive $15,000 in WPT tournament buy-in credits and complimentary accommodations at all WPT Main Tour events in Season XVIII.
Prizes have been added for the second- and third-place finishers in the race, too. The runner-up will receive $7,500 in WPT tournament buy-in credits and third place will receive $2,500 in WPT tournament buy-in credits. WPT tournament buy-in credits can be used in any global WPT event, including the WPT Main Tour, WPTDeepStacks, WPT500, and WPT Special Events.
Next Stop on WPT Main Tour is Gardens Poker Championship
The WPT Gardens Poker Championship kicks off the new year and second half of Season XVII for the second event at the Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens, CA and runs from January 12-16. The event features a $10,000 buy-in and should bring in plenty of players looking for a nice payday. The first event on the schedule in July attracted 584 entries for a $2.9 million prize pool.
The event will be the first tournament on the tour in Season XVII where final table players will travel to Las Vegas to film the final table for television on March 12 at HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor. The Gardens offer players plenty of great poker in a great atmosphere.
Two more WPT events await players in January. The WPT heads to Sochi, Russia, at the Casino Sochi Jan 21-27. The ₽198,000 (~$3,000) buy-in event is part of the partnership between the WPT and partypoker LIVE. Players can qualify online on partypoker in legal jurisdictions.
The tour then returns to Atlantic City January 27-31 for the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open. Final table players in this event will also return to Las Vegas on March 13 to film the final table at HyperX Esports Arena.
The Main Tour heads to the Great White North in February for the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The event will take place from February 23-25 and features a CAD$5,000 buy-in. The event should bring a nice crowd for only a three-day event and a chance at some big money.
These events are right around the corner so mark that calendar and make those travel arrangements so you can join the WPT for these upcoming events.
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.
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