In the poker industry, only a select few can ever be allowed to call themselves the best in the world. This week, the awards were handed out to the pros that know how to play Texas Hold’em and other types of poker games better than anyone else.
In a tight battle with Jesse Lonis, it was David Coleman that came out on top in the 2024 GPI Player of the Year race. It came down to the final stretch but Coleman came out on top by a margin of just 9.32 points.
Only the top 13 qualifying results count towards the race, and Coleman’s total of 4,383.7 points was enough for him to earn the title of 2024’s best player in the world.
Coleman, who’s currently the GPI #3 ranked player in the world behind Lonis and Ren Lin, cashed 48 times in 2024, earning the first six wins of his career (four in January alone) along with 28 top-10 finishes and $5,222,877 in live tournament earnings.
It was only last month where Coleman took home a career-high $890,000 by finishing sixth in the $25,000 WSOP Super Main Event. Four of his five career-best scores came in 2024.
Cherish Andrews took home the GPI Female Player of the Year award for the second time in three years, beating out four-time winner Kristen Foxen by just under 200 points.
Andrews had an extremely strong 2024 campaign, cashing 36 times and earning three wins and a total of $829,863. The bracelet winner also won her second-career WSOP Circuit Ring, which came in an $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em event at Cherokee for $108,971.
Her biggest result of the year came in March, when she took down a 468-entry $2,200 6-Max event at the Wynn for $182,927.
Between Andrews and Foxen, they have won six of the last seven GPI Female Player of the Year titles, with Nadya Magnus winning the award in 2021.
Andrews was also a contender to win the battle for the GPI Mid-Major Player of the Year, but narrowly missed out to Texas-native Han Feng.
Feng topped everyone in buy-ins under $2,500, earning 3,014.45 points thanks to an impressive five wins, including a whopping three Main Event titles.
Feng truly had a breakout year, earning $917,603 of his $1,277,827 in career live tournament earnings in 2024 alone. His October Champions Club Fall Poker Open title gave him a career-high score of $159,805, topping his March WSOPC Tulsa Main Event win ($144,413).
Feng also won a second WSOP Circuit ring in August, winning a $600 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $33,504. He nearly won a third ring a few days later, finishing second in an $1,100 NLH event for $69,219.