Alex Foxen is the 2019 Global Poker Index Player of the Year and deservedly so. Foxen finds himself among some of live poker’s elite and any of the top 10 would have made worthy winners. But only one player is crowned player of that year and that player is Foxen.
Here’s a quick recap of how the top 10 players performed during 2019.
Global Poker Index Player of the Year for 2019
| Place | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Foxen | United States | 3806.09 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | United States | 3679.19 |
| 3 | Bryn Kenney | United States | 3647.81 |
| 4 | Kahle Burns | Australia | 3641.63 |
| 5 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 3637.94 |
| 6 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 3499.77 |
| 7 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 3487.10 |
| 8 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 3434.91 |
| 9 | Timothy Adams | Canada | 3377.88 |
| 10 | Almedin Imsirovic | Bosnia & Herzegovina | 3377.59 |
Player of the Year: Alex Foxen
What is there to say about Alex Foxen that hasn’t already been said? Journalists around the world have run out of superlatives to describe the New Yorker. Foxen won $6,346,433 from live poker tournaments this year and now has $15,208,716 in winnings. He cashed an incredible 41 times during 2019.
Amazingly, Foxen secured the overall player of the year title in one of the final events of the year. He finished first in the record-breaking WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1,694,995. The player of the year points earned for this victory propelled him to the top of the tree.
Sean Winter
Florida’s Sean Winter burst onto the live poker tournament scene in 2015 and has become a feared opponent. Last year saw Winter win $5,022,576. He won another $4,393,338 in 2019.
Winter prefers Super High Roller tournaments and it is easy to see why. He won two of them in 2019 alone. His victory in the $25,000 event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure yielded $495,210. Winter banked another $342,000 in a $25,000 event at the Bellagio.
Lifetime winnings of $15,055,088 speak for themselves.
Bryn Kenney
What a year Bryn Kenney enjoyed in 2019. His $30,321,412 in winnings more than doubled his lifetime tally. Kenney now has $56,004,281 in cashes, the most of any poker player in the history of the game.
Kenney raked in three seven-figure scores during 2019, all three coming in May. The super high roller specialist then finished second in the Triton Million for Charity tournament in London, United Kingdom for a massive £16,890,509 ($20,563,324), losing out to Aaron Shu Nu Zang for the title.
The often controversial New Yorker surely can’t keep up the same pace during 2020. Can he?
Australian Player of the Year Kahle Burns
Kahle Burns is probably the best poker player you’ve never heard of. The Australian was a relative unknown in the live tournament world until this year. Everyone knows about Burns now thanks to him amassing $4,364,547 in cashes, including two WSOP bracelet wins.
Burns is predominately a cash game player who plays as high as $50/$100 online and even higher live. He revealed in an interview that he won’t be playing much live poker in 2020. His opponents must be delighted!
British Player of the Year Stephen Chidwick
Stephen Chidwick is one of the best all-round poker players of his generation if not ever. Chidwick terrorizes players in every format of the game and has racked up $32,059,600 in winnings. He had the unwanted title of best player to have not won a WSOP bracelet until this summer. The popular Brit got that monkey off his shoulder by taking down the $25,000 PLO event at the series.
Chidwick has now secured three consecutive United Kingdom player of the year titles. It is difficult to see who can dislodge Chidwick from his lofty perch.
German Player of the Year Rainer Kempe
Rainer Kempe has been one of the most consistent performers over the past four year. Another $3,918,678 won this year resulted in him being crowned the German player of the year. The UK-based German started the year with three massive victories. His win in the $50,000 event at the PCA netted him $908,100.
That was his largest cash of the year, although he did bag six-figures on 10 occasions. Kempe also crushes online, although he prefers to keep his aliases a secret.
Canadian Player of the Year Sam Greenwood
Sam Greenwood’s exploits during 2019 won him the Canadian player of the year title. Greenwood won another $8,146,727 this year, his best tally, taking his lifetime total to $20,903,694.
The Toronto native won seven-figure prizes four times in 2019. His victory in the $10,000 PCA Super High Roller added $1,775,460 to his bankroll. Greenwood then won the equivalent of $1,019,251 in a Triton Poker Super High Roller event in Jeju. He then won $1,095,625 a couple of months later in a Triton event in Montenegro. His fourth million-plus score weighed in at $1,097,724 in London, UK.
Manig Loeser
Manig Loeser has won $11,069,561 from live events over the years, $9,390,906 coming in the past three years. Loeser is willing to play for any stakes and in any country, much to the annoyance of his opponents. He has cashed in 25 different countries in his career, the eighth-most of any player in history.
Winning the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event for €603,777 ($678,393) was the highlight of Loeser’s year. We predict a WSOP bracelet is on the cards for the talented German in 2020.
Timothy Adams
Canada’s Timothy Adams enjoyed his best year at the tables with $8,253,043 in winnings. This would have been enough to win the player of the year title in previous years, but the standard has increased exponentially over the past 24-months.
The Canadian only cashed 18 times in 2019, but they were almost all deep runs. Twelve of those cashes were for six-figures or more. Adams also netted $3,536,550 in a massive Triton Super High Roller event in the Philippines, his biggest-ever cash.
Almedin Imsirovic
Bosnia’s Almedin “Ali” Imsirovic enjoyed his breakout year in 2018 and this year was even better. Imsirovic banked $3,213,665 last year and an additional $4,666,099 in 2019. The former US Poker Open champion won six high roller events during the past 12-months. His biggest haul weighed in at £900,000 ($1,118,707), his reward for a runner-up finish in the £250,000 Super High Roller Bowl in London won by Cary Katz.
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Matthew Pitt
If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.