News

The World Series of Poker is proud to announce an updated and improved Player of the Year formula for 2018!

In response to player feedback, WSOP has adjusted the formula to better reward bracelet winners and players who run deep, while still rewarding consistency.

A points calculator will be available on the WSOP website, so that players can see an approximation for how many points they’ll receive for any given event, based on the number of total entries and finishing place. Points will also be shown on the individual event results and prize pool tabs.

The formula is loosely based on the highly successful points system that has been used on the WSOP Circuit for many years. That scale will be used for each bracelet event, with modifiers based on the buyin and number of entries.

Here’s a comparison of the new points system to last year’s point system.

The most significant difference between 2017 and 2018 is the ratio of points awarded for a win vs. points awarded for a min-cash. In 2017, the examples above range from 3.25-1 (for the $10,000 PLO/8) to 8.16-1 (for the Main Event). In 2018, that ratio is always roughly 20-1.

The overall winner from 2017 would have remained unchanged. The winner’s point total would have been 3,309 points from 23 cashes, including 1 bracelet, one runner-up finish, and one additional final table.

Other key information:

• Dates and Qualifying events: The 2018 Player of the Year race will include the World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas (May 29 – July 17) and WSOP Europe at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic (Oct 11-Nov 2).
• The Giant and the PLO Giant: All players who cash will be awarded points. However, since the number of entries is a factor in calculating points, points for these events will not be reflected on the leaderboard until after the final starting flight.
• Heads-Up and Shootout events: Players eliminated in the same round (e.g. fifth through eighth place in a heads-up event, or all players eliminated on Day 2 of a shootout), will all receive the same points. The points awarded for those places will be the average of the points those places would have earned in a standard event.
• Multi-flight events featuring Day 1 payouts: Some events (e.g. The Colossus, The Giant) offer the opportunity to cash more than once. However, a player will only earn POY points once for each event, and the points earned will be based on the position in the final results. (See bullet 11 on this document explaining Colossus payouts for more information.)
• Exclusions: The following events will not count toward the player of the year:*
  • Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em
  • Event #32: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em
  • Event #36: Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em
  • Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em
  • Event #57: $1,000/$10,000 Ladies Event
  • Event #78: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop

• Leaderboard Click here for the 2018 Player-of-the-Year Leaderboard, updated each day.