Poker Writer
As the 2026 WSOP nears its halfway point, Alex Foxen has surged to the top of the player of the year leaderboard, while also propelling Team Lady Gaga to first place in the 25K Fantasy contest.
Foxen took the lead this week after winning his fourth career WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 NLH Super Turbo Bounty 8-Handed event. That win added to his four other final tables this year, which puts him comfortably atop the POY leaderboard by over 700 points.
Foxen’s performance also puts him in first place in individual points on the 25K Fantasy leaderboard. His 362 points have carried Team Lady Gaga into first place.
Foxen Leads Schulman in POY Race
Foxen’s 2,720 points are staving off second-place Nick Schulman’s 2,093 points. Foxen needed his most recent bracelet to take the lead over Schulman, who won his 8th career bracelet just before Foxen won his. The poker Hall of Fame mixed-game specialist was on top of the race after that bracelet.
Player of the year honors would be fitting for Schulman’s career as he has been one of the top players in the world in multiple games for years. Scott Seiver even said on X that the POY race is “almost lacking in value” because Schulman has never won it before, and that he will be rooting for the poker hall of famer.
Both players will continue to play all of the biggest events in the series as they are now two of the favorites to win POY. The battle will likely go back and forth with Foxen having the slight edge in NLH events and Schulman having the big edge in mixed games, but Foxen will have more bites at the apple with more NLH events.
Last week’s leader, Naoya Kihara, fell to fourth place on the list with only a few points added to his total in the last week.
Defending champion Shaun Deeb moved up into third place over the weekend after a runner-up finish in the $3,000 Nine-Game Mixed lowball event.
Team Lady Gaga in First Place in 25K Fantasy
Team Lady Gaga sits in first place in the team standings of the 25K Fantasy contest. Foxen’s haul leads the way with over half of the team’s points. But Brazilian crusher Yuri Dzivielevski has also contributed a strong 202 points to the team thanks to his 6th bracelet in the $100,000 High Roller. He sits in 9th place in the individual fantasy points leaderboard.
The 762 points from Team Lady Gaga are 60 points ahead of Team Blez/NGF’s 676, who is putting pressure on the top dogs through the efforts of Chris Brewer, Justin Liberto, and Adrian Mateos. Those three players all have more than 150 points, with Brewer and Liberto cashing in over 200.
Team Very Handsome Horses is in third place with 638 points. Brazilian high-roller Joao Simao leads the way on that team with 248 points after winning the bracelet in the $50,000 PLO High Roller over the weekend.
Schulman’s 273 fantasy points put Team Verderamo into seventh place, with Gabriel Andrade contributing 107 points to the team’s total of 589.
Last week’s leader, Team Banana, is now in sixth place with 614 points, with Kihara and Marco Johnson leading the way.
Team DNegs has recovered from a slow start and now sits in 4th place, thanks to Josh Arieh’s 201 points from his runner-up finish in the $10,000 HORSE Championship.
Team Wasserson is in last place with only 164 points.
Photo credit: Dominicia Quinto / WSOP
