GPI Update: Helppi Takes A Tumble; EPT Deauville Shakes Up the Rankings

Topics: Epic Poker League, Global Poker Index, Juha Helppi, Jake Cody

In recent weeks marquee January tournament series like the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and the Aussie Millions created big point gains and big point losses for the players on the Global Poker Index. And while this week sees fewer big buy-in tournaments, there is still plenty of action and movement on The Index. Juha Helppi takes a slide down the ranks; big names, Andy Frankenberger, Jeffrey Papola and Brock Parker, stay strong at Borgata; and the EPT Deauville adds a slew of new names to the rankings.

All Quiet for The Top Ten; Cody Rejoins Top Twenty; Helppi Falls Far

Erik Seidel (GPI#1 0) has grown quite comfortable atop the leaderboard in recent weeks, and he holds the top spot again for the fourth week in a row. The rest of the Top Ten also remain the same as last week with Will “The Thrill” Failla (GPI#7 0) being the only player to gain any ground at all with a tiny 7 point gain due to aging. Even in the Top Twenty there are only two position changes. Stephen O’Dwyer (GPI#17 +1) and Roger Hairabedian (GPI#18 -1) flip flop in the rankings . O’Dwyer gains just a net 18 points due to his victory in the inaugural Epic Poker League $1500 NLHE Pro-Am Event aging into Period 2, but it was enough to surpass Hairabedian for the 17th spot overall. Since jumping to GPI#15 on October 10, 2011, O’Dwyer has stayed strong and not left the Top Fifty

This week also sees Triple Crown winner, Jake Cody (GPI#20 +4) squeak back into the Top Twenty after a two week absence. He gains 22 points due to his NLHE Main Event cash at the PokerStars Russian Poker Series – Riga aging into Period 4.  Cody takes the 20th spot from Juha Helppi (GPI#39 -19) who had made a big climb into the Top Twenty last week after a three month absence.

While Helppi’s runner-up performance in the Euro Finals of Poker €10,000 NLHE High Roller event gave him a boost last week, the aging of two scores this week erases the gain. Helppi scored back-to-back final tables last August with a 5th place finish in the 2011 EPT Tallinn €5,000 PLO Turbo Event and a 6th place finish just two days later in the €2,000 NLHE Event. Both of these results age into Period 2 this week, where Helppi already has four higher scoring results. With no new scores to replace the two that age out, Helppi is left with just two results counting in Period 1, resulting in a 254 total point loss and causing him to plummet to 39th on the GPI. 

EPT Deauville Brings Big Fields, Big Buy-Ins, Big Jumps

Being one of the more popular stops on the EPT, it should come as no surprise that the largest GPI moves are a result of the EPT Deauville. 2012 EPT Deauville €5,000 NLHE Main Event Champion Vadim Kursevich (GPI#79 +160) sees the largest positive score change of any player on the GPI this week with a 487 point boost and the largest rank change, moving up 160 spots all the way up to 79th. Mikhail Lakhitov (GPI#67 +147), who racked up a gain of 477 total points, makes the second largest jump, vaulting to GPI#67. After a deep run in the EPT Deauville Main Event, Lakhitov followed with a 7th place finish in the €10,000 NLHE event later that same week.

Luca Pagano (GPI#108 +138) also leaps up the rankings thanks to his 7th place finish in the Deauville Main Event. Pagano has bounced in and out of the GPI since its debut in July, but this week marks his highest ranking to date. Paul Berende (GPI#165 +133) and Koen De Visscher (GPI#163 +107) also made deep Main Event runs to give them jumps of over one hundred places.

Borgata Boosts Frankenberger; Papola and Parker Score Big

In 2010, Andy Frankenberger (GPI#152 +35) burst onto the poker scene with a win at the WPT $5,000 NLHE Main Event at the Legends of Poker. He continued with a strong 2011, earning WPT Player of the Year Honors and a World Series of Poker bracelet in a 2011 WSOP $1,500 NLHE event. Frankenberger starts off this year with a cash in the Borgata Winter Open $3,300 NLHE Championship Event, earning him 140 points and boosting him 35 spots in the rankings. Frankenberger had been fading in the rankings in the latter half of the year after ranking as high as GPI#77 on November 21, 2011. His Borgata success helps get the ship back on course.

Brock Parker (GPI#193), who fell out of the GPI 300 December 19th, 2011, is another beneficiary of big points earned at Borgata. Parker not only final tabled the Championship with a 7th place finish, but also claimed the title in the Borgata Winter Open $1,650 NLHE Bounty Tournament. These big scores, just two days apart, give Parker his highest GPI ranking since October 10, 2011.

But the biggest winner from Borgata is Jeffrey Papola (GPI#151 +108). His 2nd place finish in the $3,300 NLHE Championship Event boosts his score a net 266 points and elevates him up 108 spots in the rankings,to his highest placement to date. Jacob Bazeley (GPI#209) and Ray Qartomy (GPI#254) both returned to the rankings as well thanks to their respective 32nd and 16th place finishes in the same event.

Welcome to The Global Poker Index

The GPI welcomes three players making their debuts this week, and all are the result of strong EPT Deauville performances. Yorane Kerignard (GPI#251) breaks into the GPI 300 with a 4th place finish in EPT Deauville €5,000 NLHE Main Event. Matthias De Meulder (GPI#278) scored a victory in the Deauville €1,500 NLHE event. And Bruno Lopes (GPI#285) nudges in with two nice cashes - a victory in the Euro Finals of Poker €5,000 NLHE Diamond Championship and a 73rd place finish in the Deauville Main Event.

Returning to The Global Poker Index

Heinz Kamutzki (GPI#166)
David Sonelin (GPI#186)
Kevin Vandersmissen (GPI#191)
Brock Parker (GPI#193)
Jacob Bazeley (GPI#209)
Mohsin Charania (GPI#229)
Ray Qartomy (GPI#254)
Jan Bendik (GPI#260)
Josh Brikis (GPI#271)
Ognjen Sekularac (GPI#275)
Anton Ionel (GPI#276)
Christophe Benzimra (GPI#279)

Exiting the GPI  300

In total 15 players were replaced in the rankings including David Diaz, who was GPI#212 last week, Dan Shak, who held spot #294, and 2012 WSOP Circuit Caesar’s Palace $1500 NLHE Main Event winner Kevin Calenzo.

David Diaz
Vojtech Ruzicka
Nicolas Cardyn
Jani Sointula
Tamas Lendvai
Jose Ignacio Barbero
Jon Spinks
Yuliyan Nikolaev Kolev
Maksim Kolosov
Stephen Chidwick
Daniel Shak
Mark Radoja
Will Molson
Jason Wheeler
Kevin Calenzo