Accused Cheater Jake Schindler Leads 2022 WSOP Player of the Year Race

Jake Schindler sits atop the 2022 World Series of Poker Player of the Year standings two weeks into the series, news that likely won't sit well with those who have accused the high roller of cheating.

As for the defending champion, Josh Arieh, he's off to another strong start and is already in contention to defend his title. Some of the usual suspects (i.e. Daniel Negreanu and Shaun Deeb) are a bit off their normal paces early in the series. But there's still plenty of time to make up ground and get back into the race.

Phil Hellmuth, another player who badly wants to win POY, started off slowly due to a couple of health issues that sidelined the 1989 world champion from some events. He's among the final 10 players on Thursday in Event #31: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship, and is in search of his record-extending 17th gold bracelet.

Schindler Leads the Way...For Now

Just over two weeks into the 2022 WSOP and we're starting to get a more clear picture as to how the Player of the Year race will play out. There will likely be some names who aren't among the top 10 right now who will jump up the leaderboard later in the series, however. Players such as Deeb, Negreanu, and Hellmuth, for example, could all end up dominating the POY chase before it's all said and done.

For now, Schindler leads the way with 1,842 points, a slim lead over David Peters, winner of Event #2: $100,000 High Roller Bounty for $1,166,810, who currently has 1,782 points.

Chad Eveslage led the race a week ago, but has dropped to third place at 1,592 points. Reigning world champion Koray Aldemir is also well in contention (1,413 points), as is Scott Seiver (1,403 points).

Arieh didn't crack this week's top 10, but he isn't far behind at 1,178 points, which puts him in 21st place. The four-time bracelet winner already has two third place finishes this summer and three cashes.

Current 2022 WSOP Player of the Year Standings

Cloud Hanging Over Leader

Schindler is one of a handful of high rollers who have been connected to alleged cheating scandals in recent months. Most of those supposedly involved haven't shied away from the 2022 World Series of Poker.

Bryn Kenney, who allegedly ran an online poker ghosting scheme, has competed in quite a few early events. Ali Imsirovic, accused of using real-time assistance (RTA) tools online and colluding in live high rollers, has also been spotted in a number of bracelet events thus far.

As for Schindler, the accusations against him are similar to what Imsirovic has been alleged to have done. Despite the harsh claims he's facing, Schindler didn't skip the 2022 WSOP and has two deep runs already — one a bracelet win in Event #12: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed, and the other a runner-up finish in Event #8: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed.

Those two victories were worth a combined $2,202,983 in cashes. If in fact he is guilty of the cheating scandal he's been accused of, suffice to say karma isn't real.