WSOP Announces New POY Formula For 2018

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) on Thursday, April 12 made an important update unveiling a new formula to calculate points for the WSOP 2018 Player of the Year (POY).

This change seems to be a response to the flak the series received last year with many top pros expressing their concerns regarding the flaws in the points system. Notably, last year was also the first time WSOP took charge of the POY calculations with GPI doing the same the previous few years.

According to WSOP’s official website, the adjustments were made in response to player feedback and the changes will reward more points to bracelet winners and players who run deep.

WSOP clarified that the point calculation system is loosely based on WSOP Circuit’s successful formula and that a scale will be used for each bracelet event, with modifiers based on the buy-in and number of entries in the event. WSOP further elaborated that the overall winner of last year’s POY title – Chris Ferguson, would have remained unchanged under the new system.

Comparison Between 2017 & 2018 Points System

The most significant difference between last year and this year will be the ratio of points awarded for a win vs. points awarded for a min-cash. Last year, the ratio ranged from 3.25-1 to 8.16-1 whereas this year, that ratio will always be roughly 20-1.

WSOP has also released additional important information about the series as well as the POY system –

Dates and Qualifying events: The 2018 POY race will account WSOP 2018 at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas (May 29 – July 17) and WSOP Europe at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic (Oct 11-Nov 2).

The Giant and the PLO Giant: All players who cash will be awarded points the points for these events will not be reflected until the final starting flight is over.

Heads-Up and Shootout events: Same points will be given to players who get eliminated in the same round. The points awarded to these players will be the average of the points those places would have earned in a standard event.

Multi-flight events featuring Day 1 payouts: Players will only earn points once for each event, and the points earned will be based on the position in the final results.

Events which will not award any points include

Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em

Event #32: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em

Event #36: Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em

Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em

Event #57: $1,000/$10,000 Ladies Event

Event #78: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop

For assisting players, a points calculator will be available on the WSOP website. Points will also be shown on the individual event results and prize pool tabs. The complete details can be read on the WSOP website.