Don’t count Manig Loeser out of the race for the 2019 Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year (PoY) race. The German high roller picked up 299.77 GPI PoY points after winning a $5,000, $200k GTD No-Limit Hold’em at the back end of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Rock & Roll Poker Open in Florida.
Loeser, who is ranked #5 in the GPI World Rankings, now rests in that same position in the PoY rankings, 164.76 points behind the leader Kahle Burns. The world’s elite will now travel to either Prague (for the European Poker Tour (EPT)) or Las Vegas (for the WPT Five Diamond), as we reach our exciting conclusion to what’s been another bumper year of poker.
Last year, Loeser chose Vegas over Prague; a decision that turned out to be top dollar after he won the $25k No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller. If he repeats that feat within the fortnight, he could take the PoY title.
GPI PoY Rankings
- Kahle Burns – 3,599.67
- Sean Winter – 3,581.45
- Bryn Kenney – 3,570.84
- Stephen Chidwick – 3,499.40
- Manig Loeser – 3,434.91
The event attracted 88-entrants, and Loeser defeated the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Joey Weissman, in heads-up action. The final table also housed the winner of the 2018 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, Scott Margereson, and the former WPT UK Champ, Matas Cimbolas. Cimbolas finished fourth in a $10,000 at this event in the summer, and also made the final table of a 114-entrant $2k during this series, so he was in good form. Ray Qartomy also made the final table, and he finished runner-up to Ryan Riess in a $10k at this event last year.
The win was Loeser’s eighth of his career, and the second of 2019 after winning the European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final in Monte Carlo.
Final Table Results
- Manig Loeser – $86,581
- Joey Weissman – $85,449
- Scott Margereson – $75,120
- Ray Qartomy – $53,780
- Timothy Flank – $26,040
- Craig Chait – $20,815
- Paul Domb – $17,260
- Matas Cimbolas – $14,545
Jack Salter Wins The $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo.
We haven’t seen Jack Salter in the high roller scene for a while, but the UK star is fine form, picking up the win in a $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo event, a few weeks after winning a 596-entrant WPTDeepStacks Main event in Montreal for $115,026.
It was Salter’s 13th win of his career.
The only player of note, joining Salter at the final table was Leonard Maue, who finished 4/272 in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship Six-Handed during the WSOP, this summer.
Final Table Results
- Jack Salter – $35,050
- Marcus Araujo – $21,675
- Leonard Maue – $12,930
- Niel Mittelman – $8,290
- Unknown Player – $6,265
- Hiroaki Harada – $5,195
- Tomas Soderstrom – $4,480
- Greg Levine – $2,945
Two other stars who went deeper than a kamikaze pilot plunging into the Atlantic ocean was Joseph Cheong (10th) and Jeff Madsen (11th).
Milen Stefanov won the $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em WPT Seminole Rock & Roll Poker Main Event. It was a cracker with 988-entrants creating a $545,070 first prize, although none of the high roller fraternity featured in the money.
Final Table Results
- Milen Stefanov – $545,070
- Fabian Gumz – $353,380
- David Novosel – $260,845
- Roman Korenev – $194,605
- Cesar Fuentes – $146,760
- Francis Anderson – $111,895
- Jeff Blenkarn – $86,255
- Antonio Mallol – $67,240