With 10 days left before the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) concludes, Josh Arieh is the favorite to win the traditional Player of the Year award.
This year, the WSOP added a separate POY leaderboard — Velo No Limits — exclusively for no-limit hold'em events. Cole Ferraro, with 2,032 points, is surprisingly atop the charts thanks to a bracelet win in Event #61: $600 Deepstack Championship and a runner-up finish in Event #26: $1,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em.
Ferraro's lead certainly isn't insurmountable. Pete Chen is right on his heels trailing by just over 200 points, and Ben Yu is right behind him in third place. Scott Ball is also at another NLH final table. The full leaderboard is as follows:
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cole Ferraro | United States | 2,032.64 |
| 2 | Pete Chen | Taiwan | 1,826.68 |
| 3 | Ben Yu | United States | 1,810.85 |
| 4 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | Greece | 1,779.10 |
| 5 | Carlos Chang | Taiwan | 1,768.18 |
| 6 | Daniel Lazrus | United States | 1,721.70 |
| 7 | Jason Koon | United States | 1,667.26 |
| 8 | Scott Ball | United States | 1,630.85 |
| 9 | Ron Ilani | Israel | 1,599.13 |
| 10 | Ren Lin | United States | 1,586.60 |
Arieh Surging, Hellmuth Fading
A few weeks into the series, it appeared Phil Hellmuth, who won his 16th bracelet in October and reached five final tables, was on a crash course to WSOP Player of the Year. Since then, however, he hasn't done much of anything.
In fact, his last result was a runner-up finish to Adam Friedman in Event #36: $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship.
Had Hellmuth held onto his massive chip lead when heads-up play began against Friedman, he'd be right in the thick of things when it comes to the current POY race. Instead, he's now a longshot.
Traditional 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Arieh | United States | 3,278.73 |
| 2 | Jake Schwartz | United States | 2,816.45 |
| 3 | Anthony Zinno | United States | 2,731.32 |
| 4 | Kevin Gerhart | United States | 2,726.99 |
| 5 | Ryan Leng | United States | 2,684.04 |
| 6 | Tommy Le | United States | 2,618.21 |
| 7 | Ben Yu | United States | 2,612.19 |
| 8 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 2,611.07 |
| 9 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | 2,598.59 |
| 10 | Dylan Linde | United States | 2,518.97 |
Arieh, like Ferraro, has been a huge surprise this year at the World Series of Poker. But, perhaps, it shouldn't have been too surprising considering he has an extensive history of poker success, starting with his third-place finish in the 2004 WSOP Main Event.
This fall, however, the Atlanta native is performing at an even higher level than ever before. Arieh has two bracelets in 2021, the first in Event #39: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, and then the second a couple weeks later in Event #66: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. On top of that, he reached Day 4 of the Main Event, but busted in 411th place.
Race isn't Over Yet
The now four-time bracelet winner is clearly the favorite to win POY right now. But that doesn't mean he's lock. There are still some formidable competitors not too far off his pace, including Jake Schwartz, who has made four final tables. He'll likely need at least one more deep run and a couple extra cashes to go with it to catch up to Arieh, however.
Anthony Zinno, who also has two bracelets this fall, is another potential POY winner. And then Arieh is facing the perennial Player of the Year favorites Shaun Deeb and Daniel Negreanu, both talented enough to pull off a comeback late in the series.
On November 13, there were six bracelet events in action, including the Main Event. There are still an additional 15 tournaments left on the schedule before the series concludes two days prior to Thanksgiving. That means those trailing Arieh have plenty of opportunities to overtake his lead, but if he continues to perform at such a high level, the task won't be easy.
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In this Series
- 1 WSOP 2021 Schedule: 88 WSOP Bracelet Events, Sept. 30 - Nov. 23
- 2 WSOP 2021: Best Events to Play on a Budget
- 3 WSOP 2021 Main Event Satellites From $80 Hit GGPoker
- 4 WSOP 2021: Former Champ Chris Moneymaker Set to Miss This Year's WSOP
- 5 WSOP 2021: COVID-19 Vaccination Required for Players, Update on Staff
- 6 WSOP 2021: Best Hotels in Las Vegas
- 7 WSOP 2021: Try These 5 Hidden Gem Las Vegas Restaurants
- 8 WSOP 2021: Read Phil Ivey's Top WSOP Tips
- 9 WSOP 2021: 8 Things Poker Players Should Definitely Bring to the WSOP - and 2 You Shouldn't!
- 10 How to Enter the WSOP 2021 Freezeout Events
- 11 Is It Worth Playing Cash Games During the WSOP?
- 12 What Game Should You Pick in Dealer’s Choice?
- 13 What We've Learned from the First Week of the 2021 WSOP
- 14 Hands That Helped GGPoker Ambassador Jason Koon Win 1st WSOP Gold Bracelet
- 15 GGPoker Successfully Brings Online Flip & Go Concept to Live 2021 WSOP
- 16 Jason Koon, Connor Drinan Lead 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Race
- 17 Anthony Zinno in Exclusive One-Player Club Following Fourth WSOP Title
- 18 Looking Back At The Illustrious History of the Poker Players Championship
- 19 Phil Hellmuth Blows Up AGAIN; Rails Against WSOP POY Rules
- 20 Poker Fan Loses Job, Twitch Streamer Gifts Him WSOP Main Event Package
- 21 WSOP 2021: Are the Fields Tougher or Softer than Recent Years?
- 22 Doyle Brunson Treats Crowd to Surprise WSOP Return on Halloween
- 23 Spooktastic: Best & Worst Halloween Costumes from the 2021 WSOP
- 24 Phil Ivey NFT Launch Party a True 'What Happens in Vegas' Night
- 25 Poker Community Buys Man Facing Terminal Cancer into WSOP Main Event
- 26 Everything You Need to Know About the 2021 WSOP Main Event
- 27 WSOP Temporarily Goes on Lockdown Over Suspect's "Suspicious Item"
- 28 Did Phil Hellmuth's Sex Ban Lead to 1989 WSOP Main Event Glory?
- 29 Doyle Brunson Arrives; Defending Champ Salas Busts Before 1st Break of 2021 WSOP Main Event
- 30 Aces Cracked Leaves Kevin Campbell as the 2021 WSOP Main Event Bubble
- 31 Quads Vs. Quads Sends Chang Liu Home Near WSOP Main Event Bubble
- 32 The Muck: Mike "The Mouth" Matusow Wants to End Max Late Reg
- 33 Doyle Brunson Proves He Still Has it Despite WSOP Main Event Exit
- 34 Phil "Gandalf" Hellmuth Makes Grand Entrance in 2021 WSOP Main Event
- 35 Chris Moneymaker Makes Late Decision to Play WSOP Main Event
- 36 Who is GGPoker Ambassador and YouTube Vlogger 'Greg Goes All In?'
- 37 The Muck: Poker Twitter Debates Potential Angle-Shooting in WSOP Main Event
- 38 Nick Rigby Plays the 2-3 "Dirty Diaper" in 2021 WSOP Main Event
- 39 Is Josh Arieh Running Away with WSOP Player of the Year?
- 40 'Wedding Crashers' & 'Old School' Star Vince Vaughn to Join WSOP's Move to Strip in 2022
- 41 Eli Elezra Selected as 2021 Poker Hall of Fame Inductee
- 42 Master of Ceremonies Vince Vaughn Suffers Bad Beat in His First WSOP Tournament
- 43 Players Implement Covid Contract During WSOP $250K Super High Roller
- 44 How Much Money Did Players at the WSOP Main Event Final Table Really Make?
- 45 Phil Hellmuth Breaks WSOP Single Series Final Table Record
- 46 Daniel Negreanu's Most Mind-Boggling WSOP Stat at the Rio
- 47 Josh Arieh a Surprising 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Winner
