The 2026 WSOP Player of the Year race is the tightest in memory. With WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas still to come in December, only 29 points separate the top three: Shaun Deeb on 3,410, Naoya Kihara on 3,388 and Alex Foxen on 3,381. PokerNews has called it the most contested race ever, and the numbers back that up. This article looks at the standings, the new rules that changed how points are earned, and what each contender needs from the finale.
The Current Standings
As of October 9, the top 15 in the WSOP Player of the Year standings look like this:
| Pos | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shaun Deeb | 3,410 |
| 2 | Naoya Kihara | 3,388 |
| 3 | Alex Foxen | 3,381 |
| 4 | Justin Liberto | 2,827 |
| 5 | Joshua Arieh | 2,750 |
| 6 | Daniel Negreanu | 2,698 |
| 7 | Jesse Lonis | 2,674 |
| 8 | Eelis Parssinen | 2,638 |
| 9 | Michael Moncek | 2,592 |
| 10 | Joshua Reichard | 2,575 |
| 11 | Benny Glaser | 2,554 |
| 12 | Nick Schulman | 2,552 |
| 13 | Calvin Anderson | 2,365 |
| 14 | Martin Zamani | 2,280 |
| 15 | Lucas Jumalon | 2,271 |
The gap from third to fourth is 554 points. That makes this effectively a three-horse race unless someone has an extraordinary run in the Bahamas. Still, the next group is not out of it: Negreanu, the reigning Main Event champion Lucas Jumalon and others are within striking distance of a big finale.
How the Rules Changed in 2026
This year's race is not directly comparable with previous seasons because the format changed in several ways, according to the PokerNews report:
- For the first time, results from WSOP Europe, the summer Las Vegas WSOP and WSOP Paradise all count.
- Only open live bracelet events count. Online bracelet events and restricted-entry events, such as Seniors and Ladies, are excluded.
- Only a player's best 15 results count.
- Players earn POY points only once per event, even if they cash multiple times.
- In certain formats, players eliminated in the same round receive equal points, based on the average for those finishing positions.
- For POY purposes, a final table is the top nine finishers.
The best-15 rule matters most. It rewards quality over quantity, because a player who plays dozens of events cannot simply stack up marginal cashes. And the once-per-event rule closes off an old quirk where multi-entry players could score multiple times in one tournament.
The Contenders
Shaun Deeb: 3,410 points
Deeb entered the summer as the reigning champion and favorite, with three runner-up finishes across WSOP Europe and the early Las Vegas stages. He won his ninth bracelet in Las Vegas in an eight-game mix event. He recorded only six cashes in Las Vegas, but deeper finishes kept him on top, including another runner-up finish, two further final tables and a deep Main Event run. His summer earnings, including bounties, were $956,086, leaving him $89,286 in profit, a 10.3 percent return on investment before expenses. Deeb won the award in 2018 and 2025. A third title would be a historic achievement.
Naoya Kihara: 3,388 points
Kihara is the story of the summer. He won back-to-back $10,000 Championship bracelets: the 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship and the Seven Card Stud Championship, bringing his career total to three. He cashed 16 times across the series, with two third-place finishes and two seventh-place finishes, plus a deep run in the Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship, which Koji Fujimoto won. Kihara became the first Japanese player to win a WSOP bracelet in 2012, and a win in the race would make him Japan's first WSOP Player of the Year. His own perspective is refreshingly blunt: "Winning the bracelet is getting more common, not special."
Alex Foxen: 3,381 points
Foxen recorded 14 cashes in 2026. He won the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $594,246, his fourth bracelet. Other results included 6th in the $100,000 High Roller ($522,347), 3rd in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship ($300,000), 7th in the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller ($267,993), 5th in the $10,000 Eight-Game and the $600 NLH/PLO Deepstack, and 10th in the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. Foxen has had a busy October in other ways, finishing third in Super High Roller Bowl XI for $450,000 after a bubble hand that went badly for his household.
The Chasers
Daniel Negreanu is sixth with 2,698 points after winning his eighth bracelet in July. He says a third POY title is "within striking distance" and that "it all comes down to how I perform in the season finale." Lucas Jumalon, the reigning WSOP Main Event champion, is 15th on 2,271 points and said the race being decided in the Bahamas "just adds to the anticipation."
What Is at Stake
The prize list is generous. The winner receives the newly introduced Binion Cup. A total of $1 million in leaderboard prizes goes to the top 100 finishers. The top three each receive a $100,000 WSOP Paradise package, and fourth through 15th each receive a $30,000 Super Main Event package. Additional packages and tickets go down to 100th place.
A separate $1 million WSOP Parlay promotion rewards players who reached a bracelet-event final table in 2026, live or online, and compete at WSOP Paradise. The festival's $50 million guaranteed Super Main Event has online satellites through GGPoker's WSOP Express. Our WSOP schedule and WSOP 2026 results pages cover the calendar and the season's outcomes so far, and our crypto poker page explains how some buy-ins can be funded with digital currency.
How the Finale Could Play Out
With 29 points separating the top three, a single deep run could decide everything. How big are the points? The report does not list the point values for each finishing position, so we cannot say precisely how many a win or final table adds. What the standings do show is that Deeb's lead of 22 points over Kihara is smaller than the gap between many individual finishing positions in a large event. Any of the three could leap ahead with one final table.
Format matters too. Kihara's strength is in mixed and non-hold'em games, where Paradise's schedule may offer fewer chances. Foxen's strength is in no-limit and pot-limit high roller fields, where the largest buy-ins attract the toughest competition. Deeb is the most versatile, with wins and deep runs across mixed and hold'em events. Readers can check the tournaments page for how event types differ, and the high-stakes guide for more on how big buy-ins shape results.
What This Means for Fans and Players
If you follow the race, expect December to be unusually dramatic. For players, the lesson from the revised rules is the same one that applies at every level: consistency and event selection beat sheer volume. The best-15 rule is a built-in reminder that quality results matter more than quantity.
You can also follow the action on screen, and our poker on TV page lists where final tables are typically streamed. Whichever of the three finishes on top, the 2026 race has already produced something rare: a title chase that nobody can call with confidence.