Global Poker Index: Shawn Buchanan Back in the Top Three

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Live Reporter
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Shawn Buchanan

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes a player's results over six half-year periods. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of June 18, 2012

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank from Last Week
1Bertrand ��ElkY�� Grospellier2,859.50--
2Steve O'Dwyer2,594.38+1
3Shawn Buchanan2,576.53+14
4Marvin Rettenmaier2,566.68--
5Jason Mercier2,565.28-3
6Eugene Katchalov2,532.03+4
7Erik Seidel2,463.35+11
8Dan Smith2,455.76-3
9David "Doc" Sands2,455.62-3
10Jonathan Duhamel2,440.52-3

The big movement in the top ten this week was the return of Shawn Buchanan. After slipping recently from the top ten, Buchanan stormed back to the No. 3 spot by filling out his Period 1 results. He finished in sixth place in WSOP Event #22 ($2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball) for $20,322, and finished 62nd in Event #26 ($3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha) for $5,226 Along with two PCA cashes from January, Buchanan has a full slate of Period 1 scores.

Meanwhile, Jason Mercier slipped three spots to No. 5. His win in the High Roller Event at the 2011 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic (worth $709,767) dropped into Period 2, as did his seventh-place finish in the Epic Poker League Main Event #3 (worth $89,680).

Welcome to the GPI

Fifteen players are new to this week's GPI, led by Nick Grippo at No. 204. With a cash in WSOP Event #23 ($3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max) and one at the Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza III, Grippo's Period 1 is much stronger to go along with the rest of his results.

New Additions

PlayerTotal GPI ScoreGPI Rank
Nick Grippo1,232.12204th
Simon Charette1,216.57210th
Mickey Petersen1,216.50212th
Michael Benvenuti1,216.13214th
Khiem Nguyen1,204.20219th
Joe Cassidy1,192.36228th
Liv Boeree1,190.24230th
Bryan Devonshire1,151.91243rd
Daniel Alaei1,150.50245th
Matt Berkey1,125.98260th
Jon Spinks1,110.37269th
Aaron Jones1,085.18280th
Andrey Gulyy1,073.85286th
Mike Matusow1,068.77288th
Brett Richey1,053.06297th

Falling from the GPI this week were Amnon Filippi, Anton Ionel, Chad Brown, Chris Tryba, Clayton Mozdzen, Dana Kellstrom, James Akenhead, James Mitchell, Jeff Papola, Justin Smith, Konstantin Tolokno, Marc Inizan, Mark Rose, Roland Israelashivili, and Vanessa Rousso.

Ups and Downs

The biggest rise of the week belonged toDan Kelly. He rounded out his Period 1 result with two deep WSOP runs: a 12th-place finish in Event #24 ($5,000 Omaha H/L) for $21,020, and an eighth-place result in Event #32 ($10,000 HORSE) for $45,360. David "Bakes" Baker also shot up the GPI ranks this week after his win in Event #32.

Biggest Gains

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week
62ndJohn Monnette1,779.04+61
94thDan Kelly1,617.75+124
102ndGavin Smith1,584.42+59
119thDavid "Bakes" Baker1,511.63+105
122ndGalen Hall1,500.63+60
133rdDan O'Brien1,467.05+76
149thAnthony Gregg1,415.34+79
175thOwais Ahmed1,335.48+83
192ndJosh Arieh1,268.78+71
220thAllen Cunningham1,204.06+66

The biggest fall of the week belonged to Max Lykov. A combination of aging WSOP scores from 2011 and 2010 fell into Period 3 and Period 5, respectively.

Biggest Drops

RankPlayerTotal ScoreChange in Rank From Last Week
159thArnaud Mattern1,370.18-51
195thCarlos Mortensen1,263.84-44
225thAndrea Benelli1,197.13-58
238thMax Lykov1,172.35-82
249thBrent Hanks1,142.51-51
250thSalvatore Bonavena1,142.17-47
254thJeff Gross1,133.66-44
285thBenjamin Pollak1,075.48-69
291stTy Reiman1,067.02-79
293rdMax Pescatori1,064.35-57
296thTim Finne1,053.91-73

What's In Store?

As has been the case the last two weeks, the WSOP is where it's at. A deep run or two can result in a huge jump (Dan Kelly this week), while a cold streak can send one tumbling down the ranks. Jason Mercier is outside of the top three for the first time in ... well ... ever, but one deep run can change all that.

To look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website. While you're at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.

To stay on top of the GPI and other happenings in the poker world, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

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