Shaun Deeb got off to a slow start to the 2021 World Series of Poker. But after winning his fifth bracelet on Sunday in Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, he's all of a sudden among the top Player of the Year contenders.
Deeb won POY in 2018 and has been a contender for the award in most recent years. Daniel Negreanu is also a perennial contender, and is the only two-time POY having won it in 2004 and 2013.
Current WSOP Player of the Year Standings
Like Deeb, "DNegs" is beginning to make some moves on the traditional Player of the Year chase (there's a new separate Velo No Limits race exclusively for hold'em events). Negreanu is currently in seventh place and Deeb sits in fifth place with the Main Event underway.
Traditional 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Schwartz | United States | 2,711.43 |
| 2 | Kevin Gerhart | United States | 2,643.28 |
| 3 | Anthony Zinno | United States | 2,627.88 |
| 4 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | 2,598.59 |
| 5 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 2,518.89 |
| 6 | Ari Engel | United States | 2,379.41 |
| 7 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 2,291.85 |
| 8 | Ben Yu | United States | 2,226.17 |
| 9 | Tommy Le | United States | 2,194.53 |
| 10 | Daniel Zack | United States | 2,181.56 |
Velo No Limits 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole Ferraro | United States | 2,032.64 |
| 2 | Pete Chen | Taiwan | 1,826.68 |
| 3 | Daniel Lazrus | United States | 1,721.70 |
| 4 | Jason Koon | United States | 1,666.20 |
| 5 | Ben Yu | United States | 1,642.10 |
| 6 | Scott Ball | United States | 1,624.61 |
| 7 | Ran Ilani | Israel | 1,599.14 |
| 8 | Ren Lin | United States | 1,586.60 |
| 9 | Carlos Chang | Taiwan | 1,531.85 |
| 10 | Bin Weng | United States | 1,525.72 |
Ben Yu is the only player in the top 10 of both leaderboards. He shipped his fourth bracelet earlier this week in Event #56: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship for $721,453.
Schwartz Takes Lead, Hellmuth Opposes Scoring System
Phil Hellmuth, who won his 16th bracelet last month and has five final table appearances during the 2021 WSOP, spoke out against the current POY scoring system on Twitter. The "Poker Brat" argues that only final table performances should be factored in and POY shouldn't count smaller cashes. Deeb, however, disagreed and both poker pros went back and forth on social media debating the subject.
Jake Schwartz has taken over the traditional POY race thanks to a balanced performance. Although he doesn't have a bracelet, he's cashed in 13 events and has five final table appearances. Hellmuth has been less active the past couple of weeks than he was earlier in the series. The 1989 world champion even took a few days off from the grind, but still is putting together quite an impressive series and is in contention as he heads into the Main Event.
The leaderboard as of November 5 is so tight that anyone in the top 10-12 still has a realistic shot at winning Player of the Year, on both leaderboards.
