New World Poker Tour Player of the Year scoring system and prizes

(PRESS RELEASE) -- To coincide with the first event of its historic 20th anniversary season, the World Poker Tour has launched a new Player of the Year system designed to make every World Poker Tour event around the globe even more prestigious.

Beginning with the Lucky Hearts Poker Open, starting Friday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Florida, every World Poker Tour event will now count towards the WPT POY race. This includes every Main Tour event, as well as every WPTDeepStacks event.

“From Florida to Amsterdam, and Australia to Las Vegas, every time a player sits down to play a World Poker Tour branded event, they’re going to be competing to become Player of the Year,” said Adam Pliska, WPT CEO. “This is yet another pillar in the 20th anniversary celebration for the WPT and the players.”

Along with the inclusion of all WPT events, the previous scoring system, which takes into account a player’s finishing position and the total prize pool of the event, has been refined to account for the wider range of tournaments involved. All players who finish in the money of any WPT event will earn POY points. A breakdown of the scoring system can be found here.

Players are competing for $30,000 in POY prizes this season. The eventual winner will receive a $15,000 WPT Passport, which can be used in any WPT event around the world. The runner-up and third-place finisher will take home a respective $10,000 and $5,000 WPT Passport.

“We wanted to make sure that our new system gives everybody a chance to put in the work and chase down the POY title,” said Matt Savage, WPT Executive Tour Director. “On top of the honor that comes from winning Player of the Year, we wanted to have a worthy prize attached to it.”

Previous World Poker Tour Player of the Year winners include Daniel Negreanu (Season III), Anthony Zinno (Season XIII), Brian Altman (Season XVIII), and the recently crowned Season XIX POY, Jake Ferro.

Season XX begins Friday with the $3,500 buy-in Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship Event at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Florida. The event has a $2 million guaranteed prize pool and two starting flights.