Contest for WSOP Player of the Year: Mark 'Cookie Monster' Checkwicz advocates for change
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has announced changes to its Player of the Year (PoY) scoring system, effective from 2024. The revised system aims to create a fairer and more skill-based competition among top professionals.
According to the new rules, a player's 10 best results throughout the series will be counted towards their PoY total, limiting the overall score to the sum of the top ten event scores. This change is designed to prevent "accumulation winners" who might win simply by entering many events and cashing frequently with minimal deep runs.
Previously, players could accumulate points from an unlimited number of cashes, which allowed high-volume players to gain an advantage even without winning events. The capped system aims to balance rewarding deep runs and tournament wins rather than sheer volume. For instance, Shaun Deeb cashed 18 times in 2025, but only his 10 best scores were counted for PoY, enabling him to win despite heavy competition from players with multiple bracelets or big event wins.
However, the new system has sparked debate about its fairness. Some critics, such as Phil Hellmuth, argue that it undervalues championships and that PoY should emphasize event wins rather than points from consistent but less spectacular results. Deeb himself has acknowledged the formula needs refinement, but he did not influence the rule changes.
Mark Checkwicz, a past winner of the $5,000 Seniors High Roller, is offering suggestions for improving the PoY race. He proposes that points should only be counted for a player's first buy-in in the PoY race to level the playing field strategically. This would force players seeking the PoY banner to adjust their strategy to be more in line with the rest of the field.
Another aspect of the PoY race that Checkwicz believes needs attention is the re-entry system. He considers multiple re-buys an unfair advantage, as players with the ability to rebuy multiple times can take on more variance to build a big stack early on. The suggestion is not to eliminate re-buys in the PoY race, but to decrease the points available for each re-buy.
The WSOP has not disclosed the number of entries or re-entries each player has had in the PoY race. However, it's interesting to note that some top players are cycling through bullets at a rate that might surprise people outside of poker. Benny Glaser is one of the players that Checkwicz is following in the current PoY race.
If the PoY race were to only count points for a player's first buy-in, it would give a more realistic view of the situation, showing the number of bullets a player fired in a tournament. This would also mean that if a player beats a pro, even if it's their first bullet of many, they'll know they're beating their best game.
The changes aim to create a more balanced and fair PoY race, encouraging quality performance across events rather than rewarding sheer volume. The new system is expected to make the competition more exciting for both players and spectators.
Poker tournaments are now considered a form of sport due to the revised World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year (PoY) scoring system, which aims to create a fairer and more skill-based competition among top professionals. Unlike before, a player's 10 best results throughout the series will be counted towards their PoY total, limiting the overall score to the sum of the top ten event scores, thereby discouraging "accumulation winners."
The restructured PoY race has sparked discussions about its fairness, with some critics arguing that it undervalues championships and should emphasize event wins instead. Mark Checkwicz, a past winner of the $5,000 Seniors High Roller, has proposed changes to level the playing field, such as counting points only for a player's first buy-in and decreasing the points available for each re-buy.
