The Global Poker Index (GPI) this week confirmed three separate 2021 Player of the Year nominees while also honoring 56 separate 2021 national champions who logged outstanding year-long performances and accumulated points in GPI-eligible tournaments. The 56 separate national honorees were led by overall 2021 GPI Player of the Year Ali Imsirovic, whose 3,478.55 GPI points led all players during 2021.
Imsirovic, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, led the GPI race through the entire calendar year. The United States' Chance Kornuth finished in second place, and like Imsirovic, was declared one of the 56 national GPI champions. Another American, Shannon Shorr, finished third, while Israel's Uri Reichenstein and Spain's Sergio Aido finished fourth and fifth, respectively. As their country's top GPI finishers, Reichenstein and Aido were also named as national GPI 2021 POY honorees.
The "national" GPI Player of the Year honor goes to a country's top tournament player based on performances in GPI points-eligible events, providing the player earned at least 1,000 GPI points on the year. The complete list of all 56 national GPI 2021 Players of the Year can be found below.
Magnus, Mzareulov claim other top GPI honors
In addition to overall winner Imsirovic, the Global Poker Index also officially recognized Nadya Magnus and David Mzareulov as official global Player of the Year award winners. Magnus claimed the GPI's Female Player of the Year honor, formally ending Kristen Bicknell's three-year run as the female POY champ. Magnus finished of fellow Americans Kyra England and Katie Lindsay, while Russia's Sonia-Veronika Shashikhina and Canada's Vanessa Kade rounded out the top five.
Imsirovic's and Magnus' top honors were all but locked in by mid-December. That wasn't true in the GPI's Mid-Major POY race, where Mzareulov held on to win. Mzareulov barely held off a late-charging American, Logan Hewitt, to win the Mid-Major honor. Italy's Michael Rossitto finished third, while Americans Jesse Lonis and Justin Zaki took spots four and five.
Mzareulov, a native of Azerbaijan now living in Houston, and Rossitto were also among the GPI's 56 national 2021 POY honorees.
Imsirovic, Magnus, and Mzareulov will be presented with their Global Poker Index 2021 Player of the Year honors as part of next month's Global Poker Awards in Las Vegas. Imsirovic will also receive the PokerGO Tour Player of the Year award at that ceremony.
2021 GPI National Players of the Year (GPI points in parentheses):
- Argentina - Ezequiel Waigel (2,416.58)
- Australia - Lewis Murray (1,813.42)
- Austria - Daniel Rezaei (2,295.00)
- Azerbaijan - David Mzareulov (2,583.34)
- Belarus - Raman Afanasenka (1,754.10)
- Belgium - Thomas Boivin (2,545.92)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina - Ali Imsirovic (3,478.55)
- Brazil - Yuri Martins Dzivielevski (1,566.08)
- Bulgaria - Boris Kolev (2,845.12)
- Canada - Daniel Negreanu (2,917.94)
- Chile - Nick Yunis (1,512.62)
- China - Sen Mu (1,486.61)
- Colombia - Farid Jattin (1,372.62)
- Croatia - Ivan Zufic (2,194.39)
- Cyprus - Yiannis Liperis (1,734.27)
- Czechia - Jan Bednar (1,428.57)
- Denmark - Martin Stausholm (1,353.21)
- Finland - Joni Jouhkimainen (1,651.61)
- France - Johan Guilbert (3,020.66)
- Georgia - Giorgiy Skhuluhiya (2,471.43)
- Germany - Koray Aldemir (1,777.15)
- Greece - Georgios Sotiropoulos (1,526.79)
- Hong Kong - Chan Lok Ming (1,080.80)
- Hungary - Tamas Lendvai (1,062.49)
- India - Abhinav Iyer (1,646.17)
- Ireland - Alex Kulev (1,642.05)
- Israel - Uri Reichenstein (3,138.32)
- Italy - Michael Rossitto (2,694.69)
- Japan - Jun Obara (1,801.09)
- Kazakhstan - Darkhan Botabayev (1,235.08)
- Lithuania - Matas Cimbolas (2,698.40)
- Moldova - Pavel Plesuv (1,357.63)
- Morocco - Badr Imejjane (1,876.85)
- Netherlands - Zhong Chen (1,672.41)
- Philippines - Mike Takayama (1,120.71)
- Portugal - Joao Vieira (2,131.81)
- Puerto Rico - Fernando Rodriguez Vazquez (1,919.65)
- Romania - Vlad Darie (2,116.44)
- Russia - Artur Martirosyan (2,417.32)
- Serbia - Damjan Radanov (2,096.71)
- Singapore - Feng Zhao (1,012.17)
- Slovenia - Rok Gostisa (2,371.92)
- South Korea - Sung Joo Hyun (2,921.24)
- Spain - Sergio Aido (3,090.55)
- Sweden - Tomas Soderstrom (2,366.94)
- Switzerland - Emil Bise (1,305.25)
- Taiwan - Eric Ting Yi Tsai (2,113.44)
- Thailand - Punnat Punsri (1,148.52)
- Tunisia - Moncef Karoui (1,256.47)
- Turkey - Selahaddin Bedir (2,188.95)
- Ukraine - Yuriy Kozinskiy (1,418.83)
- United Kingdom - Stephen Chidwick (2,926.50)
- United States of America - Chance Kornuth (3,225.11)
- Uruguay -Brian Barros Vazquez (1,010.46)
- Venezuela - Dorian Alejandro Rios Pavon (2,220.64)
- Vietnam - Tony Tran (1,713.8)
Featured image source: Global Poker Index
