It was a neck-and-neck finish in the 2025 World Series of Poker Player of the Year race and Shaun Deeb has emerged victorious with the slimmest of margins separating him from runner-up finisher Benny Glaser. While the points tally has yet to be finalized, Glaser's elimination from the final tournament of the summer has ensured Deeb's victory – barring any last-minute corrections.
After securing his first Player of the Year title in 2018, Deeb now joins Daniel Negreanu as only the second player in WSOP history to win the award twice.
A winning strategy
Deeb's hunt for the Player of the Year award kicked into overdrive when he won his seventh bracelet in Event #79: $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller to take a slim lead in the race. With twenty point-eligible events still to play, Deeb entered grind mode and picked up two more cashes to add to his tally – with one of those being a runner-up finish in Event #84: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em.
In an interview with PokerOrg's Craig Tapscott following his bracelet win, Deeb outlined his strategy for the remainder of the series and emphasized his need to not only cash the events, but also run as deep as possible to benefit from the top-heavy point structure.
"To hold on to the Player of the Year lead, I have to get a lot of chips. I can't just min-cash, I have to be in there deep as the point system is top-heavy," Deeb told Tapscott.
It's one thing to recognize and outline a winning strategy in a hard-fought race such as this one, but to then go out and execute that strategy is something else entirely.
Deeb did just that.
Close, but no cigar for Glaser and the pack
While Glaser managed to accrue a total of three bracelets across the series, Deeb's 24 total cashes in the live and online arenas – including five final table appearances, three runner-up finishes, and one bracelet win – served to edge out the victory.
While only ten of those cashes counted towards his Player of the Year tally, Deeb's strategy of running deep paid off in a big way.
Glaser wasn't the only player to come close as Martin Kabrhel, Michael Mizrachi, and Scott Bohlman all finished within a few hundred points of the top spot.
While Mizrachi put in much less volume than the rest, his victories in Event #66: $50,000 Poker Players Championship and Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship – the two most prestigious events of the series – saw him surge into the upper echelons of the leaderboard.
Despite Deeb's superior point tally, many in the poker community argued that Mizrachi's unprecedented summer was worthy of the title based on merit alone.
Additional image courtesy of PokerGO.
