There Isn't Enough Talk About This Legendary WSOP Player of the Year Race
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In any other year, Scott Seiver could have quit competing by now and just gone ahead and given his acceptance speech for World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year.
But this is 2024, and despite having won three bracelets (and finishing third in an event on Sunday), the race isn't over. That is because Jeremy Ausmus is also having a historic summer, and he's one more final table away from catching up in the POY chase.
Seiver is the Likely Winner
On Saturday, Ausmus finished seventh place for $23,952 in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament, his seventh official final table appearance of the summer, which ties Phil Hellmuth's single series record set in 2021.
Ausmus, a six-time bracelet winner, hasn't added to his hardware this year, but he is without question having the greatest WSOP ever without winning a title. After his recent final table appearance, he remained in second place with 3,686 points.
Seiver, on the other hand, entered the $10,000 buy-in WSOP Online bracelet event with 3,793 points and then earned 473 points for finishing in third place. Due to the new scoring system for 2024, he won't extend his lead over Ausmus as much as you might think.
This year's system allows for only the top 10 cashes to be included in the POY race, and only one online cash. As such, Seiver's previously included online cash for 193 points will be wiped out and replaced with his newest final table appearance, a difference of 280 points. That brings his total to 4,073 points, 387 higher than Ausmus.
Yes, Ausmus is Still in the Race
The odds are now stacked against Ausmus thanks to Seiver's online final table appearance. But there are still two live events that began on Monday and one more scheduled for Tuesday, and two online bracelet events later in the week.
A small cash or two won't do him any good. He'll need to break the record for most final table appearances if he's going to pull it off. And not only that, he will likely need a top three or four finish to overtake Seiver, meaning his chances of winning are low. But we're talking about arguably the top performer at the World Series of Poker since 2021, so bet against him at your own risk.
There's also still an outside shot Chance Kornuth could go on a wild heater to finish off the 2024 WSOP and claim the Player of the Year award. He's currently at 3,374 points and would essentially need to win a bracelet and likely reach a second final table in the last three events to get it done, however.
Strange things have happened in the WSOP Player of the Year contest over the years. In 2019, Daniel Negreanu was declared winner for the third time. The poker world sent the former PokerStars ambassador all sorts of congratulatory messages only to find out days later that a scoring error had been discovered and that Robert Campbell was the real winner.
The 2024 race isn't over, but the deck is certainly stacked against Ausmus as the series is only a couple of days from its conclusion. No matter how it ends, both players are having historic summers, and the 55th World Series of Poker will go down as one of the most entertaining ever.
Scoring Error Takes 2019 WSOP Player of the Year Award from Negreanu
WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard
*Denotes point total not updated/official.
