After the 2025 World Series of Poker, Jesse Lonis was riding high on the different Player of the Year races in poker. The thought that Lonis’ lead was insurmountable has begun to crumble, however, as we enter the homestretch of the 2025 Player of the Year races. With just weeks to go before the end of the 2025 tournament season, Lonis’ lead in the CardPlayer and Global Poker Index POY races has shrunk to the point where his invincibility is being questioned.
Lonis Under Assault from Foxen, Punsri, on CardPlayer POY
Lonis has used his eight tournament victories in 2025, primarily through his domination on the PokerGO Tour (PGT), to keep the hounds at bay on the CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year race. During the PGT PLO Series II in October, Lonis tacked on that eighth victory of the year and added another final table to bring his total points to 10,507. In years past, that might have been enough for the win, but this year it just makes Lonis the rabbit for the pursuing pack.
Alex Foxen has been able to continue his strong run in his hunt for another Player of the Year title. Foxen also garnered a win during the PGT PLO Series II, but he also tacked on another victory during the Poker Masters series. Those two wins have allowed Foxen to cut into Lonis’s lead, with Foxen now sitting at 9,371 points.
There is a wild card who is sneaking into the third-place slot in Bangkok, Thailand’s Punnat Punsri. During September and October, Punsri was a dominant force on the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series and the Asian Poker Tour. During those series’ two stops in Jeju, South Korea, Punsri racked up six points-paying finishes (for 3,654 points) but more importantly earned north of $3.6 million for those finishes (and this isn’t counting the six cashes that didn’t earn any POY points). It has allowed Punsri to rocket up the POY ladder for the year and land in third place.
As we prepare for the drive to the end of December, here is how the CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year race lines up:
1. Jesse Lonis (Little Falls, NY), 10,507 points
2. Alex Foxen (Cold Springs Harbor, NY), 9,371
3. Punnat Punsri (Bangkok, Thailand), 8,980
4. Artur Martirosyan (Voronezh, Russia), 8,514
5. Quan Zhou (Harbin, China), 7,780
6. Klemens Roiter (Austria), 7,362
7. Andrew Ostapchenko (Carlsbad, CA), 7.068
8. Ben Tollerene (Lubbock, TX), 6,917
9. Matthew Wantman (Stoneham, MA), 6,856
10. Brandon Wilson (Chicago, IL), 6,712
Lonis’ Lead Even Smaller Over Martirosyan on GPI POY
If Lonis had concerns about the CardPlayer POY, then he REALLY should be worried about the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race. What was once a 400-point edge over Martirosyan after the WSOP has now shrunk to less than seventy points here in November. As both men might have maxed out their potential, however, it might pay to look down the ladder a bit.
Lonis has garnered 4,379.59 points as of the start of November, but he has only tacked on 159 points since August. Because the GPI POY only counts the thirteen best finishes for a player, it is difficult for Lonis to find ways to add onto his resume – to be blunt, he does not have a pathway to knocking off low finishes with better ones. If Lonis is going to add to his total, it will be through wins, not simply cashing in tournaments.
Martirosyan is facing a similar issue with trying to find points. The Russian powerhouse has not seen a points-paying finish since September, when he won at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series. That 351.2 points that Martirosyan earned for that victory, however, was enough to cut into the gap between him and Lonis, as Martirosyan sits right on the heels of Lonis with 4,323.49 points.
Punsri’s outstanding work over the last couple of months has also allowed him to leap up the GPI ladder. In just the previous two months, Punsri has earned three finishes that have moved him up the leaderboard to put him in a challenger’s position. He has tucked in right behind Martirosyan with 4,322.34 points and, should Martirosyan falter, Punsri can certainly catch him…but can he catch Lonis?
As we come down to the wire, here is how the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race stands:
1. Jesse Lonis (Little Falls, NY), 4,379.59 points
2. Artur Martirosyan (Voronezh, Russia), 4,323.49
3. Punnat Punsri (Bangkok, Thailand), 4,322.34
4. Alex Foxen (Cold Springs Harbor, NY), 4,287.61
5. Brandon Wilson (Chicago, IL), 3,976.63
6. Quan Zhou (Harbin, China), 3,969.63
7. José ‘Nacho’ Barbero (Buenos Aires, Argentina), 3,958.69
8. Klemens Roiter (Austria), 3,878.2
9. Matthew Wantman (Stoneham, MA), 3,778.1
10. Jeremy Ausmus (Las Vegas, NV), 3,744.99
For those on the Kristen Foxen Watch, she is currently in eleventh place on the GPI POY, right behind Ausmus, with 3,716.97 points. She has a dominant lead over Cherish Andrews (2,931.39 points) and Victoria Livschitz (2,437.12) and seems to be a lock for yet another Women’s Player of the Year award from the GPI.
There are certainly plenty of end-of-year events for players to make up some points, but the question is which option they take. There’s the WSOP Paradise on the schedule again, alongside the WPT World Championship; both tournaments are in mid-December. The European Poker Tour holds its yearly trip to Prague at the start of December for those on the “Old Continent,” and there are plenty of high-dollar events left on the PGT calendar. Lonis may be on top now…but will he still be there come the end of the tournament calendar year?
The post Jesse Lonis’ Edge in POY Races Shrinks Going to the Homestretch appeared first on Poker News Daily.
About The Author
