WPT Player of the Year is the premier honor in poker. Each winner must perform with exceptional skill and determination on the felt. Only one WPT Main Event remains in Season X and the race for this year’s title couldn’t be any tighter. The recent Florida leg of the World Poker Tour produced memorable swings in the standings, but when all was said and done, the points leader for most of the year once again came out ahead.
Will “The Thrill” Failla held pole position for Season X POY crown for 236 straight days following his win at the 2011 Legends of Poker. However during the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, Joe Serock completed a remarkable back-to-back run with another final table and 3rd place finish. This pushed Serock past Failla into the lead. Unfortunately for Joe, his reign at the top would last a mere 8 days.
Many potential Season X POY candidates were in attendance for the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open. At one point during the final play-down day, 4 players had a chance to catch or pass Serock for POY lead. These talented professionals included Byron Kaverman, Daniel Buzgon, Darren Elias and Failla. In the end, a surging Failla refused to be denied in his quest to regain pole position. His second final table appearance of Season X pushed him ahead of Serock with only the WPT World Championship remaining.
“The race is so close, it’s going to be a tough fight at the WPT World Championship,” said Failla. “I’m hands-down eating this whole Player of the Year up alive and taking no prisoners!”
With the entire poker community now turning their attention to the WPT World Championship, the pressure is on Failla, Serock and the others near the top to make another magical run. The prestigious Season X finale will not only award massive amounts of prize money but will also dole out significant POY points. In fact, there are technically still 75 players alive in the race for WPT Player of the Year. A win by any one of these players gives them a shot to catch front runner Failla as long as he does not cash and other leading players do not place highly.
For stats junkies, it’s worth noting that of the 9 previous WPT POYs, 4 cashed four times during their winning season – Erik Lindgren (S2), Daniel Negreanu (S3), Jonathan Little (S6) and Faraz Jaka (S9). Will Failla currently has four Season X cashes to his name, tied for the most with Allen Kessler who sits near the back of the pack (168th place – 200 points).
The race to become the acclaimed tenth WPT Player of the Year will come down to the wire. Follow the action during the upcoming WPT World Championship with WPT Live Updates and tune into the final table on WPT Live Streaming. Season X of the World Poker Tour airs on Fox Sports Net (FSN) in the U.S., with new episodes premiering every Sunday night at 8pm and 11pm local time. Check your local TV listings.
WPT Trivia: Daniel Negreanu not only won WPT Player of the Year in Season III, he also finished 3rd in Season V and 5th in Season II.
WPT Player of the Year Standings
| Rank | Player Name | Season X Points |
| 1 | Will Failla | 2,050 |
| 2 | Joe Serock | 1,800 |
| 3 | Daniel Buzgon | 1,750 |
| 4 | Darren Elias | 1,600 |
| 5 | Vitor Coelho | 1,500 |
| 6 | Fred Goldberg | 1,450 |
| 7 | Bobby Oboodi | 1,400 |
| 7 | James Dempsey | 1,400 |
| 7 | Sean Jazayeri | 1,400 |
| 10 | Soi Nguyen | 1,250 |
| 10 | Tommy Vedes | 1,250 |
POY Points – WPT World Championship
1st: 1,400 pts
2nd: 1,200 pts
3rd: 1,100 pts
4th: 1,000 pts
5th: 900 pts
6th: 800 pts
7th: 700 pts
8th: 600 pts
9th: 500 pts
10th-12th: 400 pts
13th-15th: 300 pts
16th-18th: 200 pts
19th-27th: 100 pts
28th-36th: 50 pts
Note:
– Players must finish in the money to earn POY points.
– All players that finish in the money will automatically receive 50 points.