Dan Zack is having a great time at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The American poker pro has regained the top spot in the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard, less than three weeks before the world’s most prestigious poker festival finally comes to a close on July 16.
Zack held the No. 1 position for two straight weeks since the start of the series, before being overtaken by Upeshka De Silva last week. Zack triumphed in Event #6: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball to claim his maiden bracelet. Overall, the New Jersey player has scored 10 cashes this summer. His most recent final table was in Event $51: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better won by Yuri Martins.
Jason Gooch Moves Up To No. 2
More than 200 points below Zack is Jason Gooch at No. 2. The Texas native managed to climb to his current spot after winning Event #55: $1,000 WSOP.com Online Double Stack No-Limit Hold’em last Sunday. He also had a deep run in another online event, Event #24: $600 WSOP.com ONLINE Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed, where he finished second to Josh Pollock.
De Silva, who held the top spot a week ago, has dropped down to No. 3. De Silva was the winner of Event #38: $600 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em Knockout Bounty, topping a field of 1,224 entries to claim his third WSOP bracelet.
Scott Clements is also having a good time at the WSOP. He won his third bracelet in Event #10: $1,500 Dealers Choice. He went on to make his third final table this summer, finishing sixth in Event #54: $1,500 Razz which was won by Kevin Gerhart. This gave him enough points to take the No. 4 spot on the POY leaderboard.  Daniel Strelitz who won Event #11: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em early in the series is in the 5th spot due to the fact that he has had a total of seven cashes so far this year.
A bracelet has remained elusive for Shaun Deeb this summer, but the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year has had deep runs, including finishing second to Adam Friedman in Event #35: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship. Shaun Deeb has cashed in a total of 11 events thus far at the 50th WSOP, enough to put him at the No.6 spot.
At No. 7 is Australia’s Robert Campbell who captured his first ever WSOP bracelet in Event #33: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw. First time bracelet winner Ismael Bojang is behind Campbell at No. 8. Bojang outlasted a 1,216-entry field to win Event $40: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha – his 10th cash of the 2019 WSOP.
Completing the Top 10 are Ari Engel at No. 9, winner of Event #48: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em, and Frankie O’Dell (No. 10), who won his third bracelet after taking down Event #18: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.
Meanwhile as of this writing, Jake Schwartz (No. 18) and Jon Turner (No. 21) are tied for the most WSOP cashes this summer with 13.
Coming close to the Top 10 are Brett Apter (No. 11), winner of Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout; Dash Dudley (No. 12), winner of Event #52: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship; Ben Yu (No. 13), finished runner-up in Event #15: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship; Loren Klein (No. 14), winner of the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet; and Roman Korenev (No. 15), winner of Event #26: $2,620 No-Limit Hold’em Marathon.
2019 WSOP Player of the Year Details
This year’s Player of the Year race includes all of the open bracelet events running at the 2019 WSOP in Las Vegas, as well as those from the upcoming World Series of Poker Europe which is set to take place in Rozvadov, Czech Republic on October 15-November 4.
From the full schedule of bracelet events this summer, six events will not count toward the POY race, including the $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em, the $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em, the $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em, the $1,000/$10,000 Ladies Event, the $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em, and the $1,500 Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold’em.
There are a total of 90 bracelets up for grabs in this year’s series, 56 have already been awarded.