Poker Writer
The 2026 Card Player Player of the Year (POY) race is on after the opening month of action saw Venezuelan horse trainer Giuseppe Iadisernia leading a tight race of several notable players.
Iadisernia leads on the strength of his victory in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open $3,500 NLH event, one of the largest poker tournaments of the year thus far. He won the 1,229-entry event for $611,700.
This career-best win puts Iadiernia over $2 million in career earnings, with his second-largest score coming at the 2024 WSOP, where he finished just over $219,000. The 69-year-old is also a horse trainer by trade, with several successful years on the track in the early 2010s.
Top 10 Card Player 2026 POY Rankings
After Iadisernia, the rankings are all very close, as expected, with just 1/12th of the year completed so far.
| POY Rank | Player | Country | POY Points | POY Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giuseppe Iadisernia | Venezuela | 1,650 | $799,400 |
| 2 | David Coleman | USA | 1,484 | $518,840 |
| 3 | Blake Vogdes | USA | 1,368 | $457,980 |
| 4 | Brandon Wilson | USA | 1,365 | $547,450 |
| 5 | Zilong Zhang | USA | 1,232 | $242,034 |
| 6 | Thomas Boivin | Belgium | 1,212 | $605,225 |
| 7 | Jorge Gomez | USA | 1,200 | $398,860 |
| 8 | June Kim | USA | 1,200 | $397,350 |
| 9 | Andrew Lichtenberger | USA | 1,198 | $408,500 |
| 10 | Clemen Deng | USA | 1,150 | $524,450 |
Notables in the top ten include Zilong “Aaron” Zhang who made headlines in the 2022 WSOP Main Event when he confounded high roller Dan Smith at the feature table in a viral hand. His interesting merge bet style of play had Smith and others guessing many times during the coverage. He eventually finished in 117th in that Main Event for $62,500.
One of Belgium’s most successful all-time players, Thomas Boivin, makes an appearance in sixth. He won the $25K event at the WPT Lucky Hearts Open.
Andrew “Chewy” Lichtenberger also slides his way into the top ten after winning a PokerGO tour event.
Can Jesse Lonis Defend His Crown?
The 2025 Card Player POY race was won by Jesse Lonis after he held off Punnat Punsri who made a strong push late in the year to challenge the large lead that Lonis had built up throughout the year. Alex Foxen finished in third place.
Lonis is off to a modest start so far in 2026 with three cashes in PGT kickoff events.
