After the 14th tournament of the year (on April 21st) things continue to be interesting in the three major award races.
Player of the Year
I (Clark) have extended the point lead in first place making it a tough final four games for Darin, Terry, Christine or Abi to unseat me from the top spot. A 38 point gap exists between 1st and 2nd, 48 points between 1st and 5th. And it wouldn't be impossible to see outside contenders like Rob, Sue, James, John, or Rich coming on strong the last four games for a surprise victory from one of the top ten spots. It will probably take a melt-down on my part along with their strong play, but in poker, anything is possible.
Bounty Hunter of the Year
This is the most volitile of the awards and Terry managed to hold the slightest of leads after tournament 14 though she didn't gain any new bounties. Four+ bounty nights seem to be a norm for at least one player each game, and those kind of nights vault those players immediately into contention. With 15 players, each bounty was worth 75 points. Terry currently holds a 55 point lead in the race meaning it is a toss-up on who will take the trophy in July! The current top 10 (all of which are easily in the running) are:
- Terry - 935
- Clark - 880
- Abi - 860
- Mike - 840
- John - 730
- Darin - 680
- Christine - 480
- Garth - 475
- Rob - 465
- Sue - 355
Most Improved Player of the Year
Another intersting race, with Darin making a huge impact on his rating by placing 3rd in tournament 14 to win his 5th chip of the year. James made another final table appearance to boost his case and pulled ahead of Casey into the 2nd place slot. Terry improved as well making this a solid 4 player race. As the only award that is decided by the players at the championship game from the top three contenders from the year, impressions of their game with those they play against will make all the difference in the end. Mathematically, the top 5 most improved players are:
- Darin (5.18 rating)
- James (2.91 rating)
- Casey (2.88 rating)
- Terry (2.12 rating)
- Rob (.94 rating)
Good luck to everyone the rest of the way, I will continue to post updates on the awards after each tournament!