The Global Poker Index (GPI) has revealed the Player of the Year winners across various countries and rankings. Among these outstanding achievers is India’s 34-year-old poker pro Ankit Ahuja. He put up some amazing performances and claimed the prestigious GPI Player of the Year 2023 title for India.
Ahuja’s year was nothing short of extraordinary as he bagged an impressive 43 cashes. This included 12 final table finishes and a victory at the EPT Cyprus Eureka Main Event in October. On the back of his power-packed performances, Ahuja ended the year with an impressive 3,406.43 POY points, winning the GPI Player of the Year India title for the second consecutive year. Ahuja’s stellar performances in 2023 earned him $1,266,472 in live tournament cashes, taking his total live winnings to $362,365.
While Ahuja performed consistently throughout the year, his biggest score came for his victory in the EPT Cyprus Eureka Main Event in October where he earned a hefty $362,365, his career-best score.
Ahuja’s fantastic results also earned him the coveted fifth rank in the GPI Mid-Major POY category and a 40th-place on the global POY rankings, solidifying his position as formidable player on the global stage.
Bagging the second spot on the GPI Player of the Year leaderboard for India is 2023’s top Indian earner Santhosh Suvarna, who amassed 3,247.23 points on the back of his two victories and several final table finishes. His biggest score of the year was $1.77 Million (INR 14.76 Crores), which he earned in October for placing third in the $125K Main Event at the Triton Poker SHR Series Monte Carlo.
WSOP bracelet winners Abhinav Iyer ( 3rd – 2,193.92 points) rounded out the podium finishes, with Kartik Ved (4th – 2,158.81 points), Natural8 India Ambassador Kunal Patni ( 5th – 2,117.58 points), and Nishant Sharma ( 6th – 1,691.30 points) being the other top-ranked players on the leaderboard.
Talking about the GPI POY India (Female), Kanchan Sharma topped the charts with 589.70 points. India’s only female WSOP bracelet winner Nikita Luther, who recently grabbed headlines for her grand showing at GGPoker’s Poker After Dark: Game of Gold, finished runner-up with 581.19 points.
Internationally, Bin Weng (5,008.99 points) emerged as the winner of the overall GPI Player of the Year. Weng, who was recently announced as the WPT Player of the Year, put up some fantastic results, which included five massive victories and plenty of final table scores. In the female category, it was Kristen Foxen who won the overall Player of the Year award, scoring an impressive 2,970.93 points.
In a neck-to-neck race, Nick Pupillo (2,819.77) emerged as the Mid-Major category winner for 2023.
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