Ausmus and Nyman Lead GPI POY Early in 2022 Season
More than two months into 2022, poker is operating as if there was never a pandemic, except for some people still voluntarily wearing masks. Poker is strong, with players attending live events in record numbers. Time away from the tables certainly did make their hearts grow fonder.
This means the Player of the Year races are already in full swing. There are points leaderboards everyone one looks – in World Poker Tour and WPT Prime events, at each WSOP Circuit stop, at each RunGood Poker Series stop, as just a few examples. There will be one at the World Series of Poker this summer as well. But the most respected one that covers a wide swath of tournaments is the one maintained by the Global Poker Index.
The GPI Player of the Year is unique in that it considers the most tournaments throughout the calendar year but only allows the top 13 of each player’s scores. And it is the only one that breaks down rankings by country, gender, and separates mid-majors from higher stakes. Finally, it awards actual trophies at an annual ceremony.
With all of that said, the Global Poker Index announced the current standings for the 2022 GPI POY. After nearly three months of this year, let’s see who’s leading.
Ausmus Atop Overall POY
Jeremy Ausmus had a great 2021. He won more than $2.2M, making it his second-biggest year of his career. He started racking up the wins last year in the second half of the year, though. He won two bracelets at the 2021 World Series of Poker and had numerous accomplishments. But he finished 17th in the 2021 GPI Player of the Year race.
Ausmus went into this year with a great deal of determination. He played the PokerGO Tour Stairway to Millions in mid-January and made two final tables. He went to Florida for the 2022 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open and finished seventh in the Main Event. Back in Las Vegas in February, he won an event at the PokerGO Cup series, finished second in another, and grabbed two third-place finishes. That added up to ending the series as the PokerGO Cup Player of the Series. And in March, he final tabled a Wynn High Roller. He already claimed $1,133,185 in winnings in 2022.
Brock Wilson isn’t terribly far behind in second on the 2022 POY rankings. He had five final tables at the PokerGO Cup and finished fourth in a Wynn High Roller, among other cashes. Wilson is keeping up his momentum from 2021 when he had his best year to date. This year, he’s already won $912,268.
None other than Ali Imsirovic sits in third place. He won the 2021 GPI POY. In fact, he held the top spot all year, never relinquishing it once. He started out this year winning a Venetian High Roller, finishing second in a Stairway to Millions event, winning a PokerGO Cup event and an Aria High Roller. He has already racked up $1,453,848 in earnings.
| Ranking | Player | Points |
| 1 | Jeremy Ausmus (USA) | 2,318.30 |
| 2 | Brock Wilson (USA) | 2,048.32 |
| 3 | Ali Imsirovic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) | 1,889.47 |
| 4 | Sean Perry (USA) | 1,832.54 |
| 5 | Darren Elias (USA) | 1,548.70 |
| 6 | Scott Baumstein (USA) | 1,489.09 |
| 7 | Cary Katz (USA) | 1,462.00 |
| 8 | Jesse Lonis (USA) | 1,411.09 |
| 9 | Ankit Ahuja (India) | 1,411.00 |
| 10 | Bin Weng (USA) | 1,392.22 |
Nyman Leads Female Race
The Female Player of the Year race is off to an interesting start. Kristen Nyman finished 40th in the 2021 POY race but is already leading this year’s rankings.
Nyman started this year by winning a Venetian Deepstack tournament on January 6, cashed in a Stairway to Millions event on the PokerGO Tour, final tabled an event at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open, and racked up more cashes in Las Vegas series. Her most recent came in the form of two cashes in the Wynn Millions Poker Series. She has already won $103,576 in 2022, more than double her live tournament earnings in 2021, which was the first year she ranked.
Close behind is Christina Gollins, who started the year with cashes at the WSOP Circuit Choctaw, L.A. Poker Classic, and Venetian DeepStack Showdown. She final tabled three events at the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza, and won a Wynn daily. She, too, is having her best year yet with $126,159 in earnings so far.
Jessica Vierling sits in third. Her momentum is high, too. She won two Resorts World dailies within the first two weeks of 2022 and then final tabled the WSOP Choctaw Main Event. That third-place finish was a career best. She’s been cashing on the Mid-States Poker Tour and on the WSOP Circuit around the country, as well as in Vegas events like the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza. Her $187,511 live earnings this year topped her entire 2021 earnings already.
| Ranking | Player | Points |
| 1 | Kristen Nyman (USA) | 1,208.92 |
| 2 | Christina Gollins (USA) | 1,122.09 |
| 3 | Jessica Vierling (Germany) | 867.27 |
| 4 | Thi Xoa Nguyen (Vietnam) | 698.48 |
| 5 | Elanit Hasas (USA) | 690.26 |
| 6 | Courtney Rowe (USA) | 685.77 |
| 7 | Kelly Samson (USA) | 680.25 |
| 8 | Loni Harwood (USA) | 652.10 |
| 9 | Cherish Andrews (USA) | 651.85 |
| 10 | Nadya Magnus (USA) | 635.44 |
Ahuja Holds Mid-Major Lead
This category benefits mid-majors players, those who play tournaments with buy-ins of $2,500 or less. The tournaments must garner at least 32 entries to qualify. It is a very popular category for many players who don’t want to or cannot play the higher buy-in events.
Some players compete in more than one category. For example, Ankit Ahuja ranks ninth on the overall rankings but first in the mid-majors category. He led this year with cashes and final tables at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open in Florida and Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza in Las Vegas. And he won the second event at the Venetian DeepStack Showdown Poker Series for nearly $190K. His live tournament earnings are $263,671 barely three months into this year.
Tuan Mai is second on this leaderboard at the moment after doing well in a multitude of Las Vegas tournaments. His first cash of the year was second place in a Venetian DeepStack Showdown event, and he final tabled two others. He won two events at the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza. He has already accrued $129,595 in 2022 earnings.
Scott Baumstein is in a very close third. He kicked off 2022 with two event wins at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open, a final table at the WSOP Circuit Isle Pompano stop, and multiple cashes across several series. His earnings sit at $215,259 so far.
| Ranking | Player | Points |
| 1 | Ankit Ahuja (India) | 1,196.86 |
| 2 | Tuan Mai (USA) | 1,158.57 |
| 3 | Scott Baumstein (USA) | 1,142.40 |
| 4 | Aaron Massey (USA) | 1,140.52 |
| 5 | Christina Gollins (USA) | 1,122.09 |
| 6 | Rob Sherwood (USA) | 1,115.48 |
| 7 | Roland Israelashvili (USA) | 1,104.02 |
| 8 | Peter Jaroslav (Czech Republic) | 1,102.16 |
| 9 | Alem Girma (USA) | 1,045.12 |
| 10 | Scott Stewart (USA) | 1,028.94 |
How GPI POY Works
The Global Poker Index ranks live tournament poker players around the world. In an effort to simplify the process of assigning points to tournament performances, let’s look at the basics.
-1. A tournament must have at least 32 entries and a buy-in of at least $1 to qualify.
-2. The tournament must be open to the public, not restricted to women, seniors, employees.
-3. Charity-benefitting tournaments do not qualify.
The basic formula for assigning points is the finishing position as compared to the size of the tournament and the buy-in factor. A logarithm ranks field difficulty by the buy-in via the concept of diminishing returns.
More details are on the POY details page of GPI’s website.
2022 GPI Player of the Year races open with Jeremy @jeremyausmus Ausmus leading the overall leaderboard
🔹 Nyman begins #1 in Female race
🔹 Mid-Major lead belongs to Ahuja
ℹ️ https://t.co/POuGl0FKdK pic.twitter.com/BsYhcWmfpd— Global Poker Index (@gpi) March 17, 2022
