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If you’d asked me last week who would’ve been in the Power Rankings lead I would’ve, without a doubt, said: The Main Event winner. In a shocking turn of events, however, it’s the runner-up who grabbed the top spot as he struck a chord with the voting panel! Other names in the Top 10 are mostly Main Event or WSOP Player of the Year based, so let’s dig in!

The Poker Central Power Rankings are voted on each week by five-panel members who use their own criteria to determine player relevance leading to a list of 25 players that score points from 65 down to 1. The criteria loosely include player results, social media influence, some good ol’ drama or other things of note that make ear perk up and our eyes grow bigger. Got beef with our decisions on a week-to-week basis? Hit us up on @PokerCentral on Twitter and jump into the conversation.

Read up on the previous weeks: Week 25 – Week 24 – Week 23 – Week 22 – Week 21 – Week 20 – Week 19 – Week 18

Last week This week
Dario Sammartino Unranked 1

He didn’t win the Main Event but his performance was definitely championship-worthy. Recording the biggest result for an Italian poker player ever, grabbing the No. 1 spot on its all-time money list and conducting the orchestra of rabid Italian fans on the rail, Sammartino is a worthy rankings leader as consolement for not winning the most coveted bracelet in the game.

Last week This week
Hossein Ensan 1 2

The champ is here! The champ is here! I’m pretty sure Ensan won’t be upset to lose out on the Power Rankings to his friend and rival Dario, as second is still great as well. Ensan became the second Main Event winner from Germany, taking home the biggest score ever for a Germany player and the honors of being world champion after Pius Heinz did it back in 2011.

Last week This week
Alex Livingston 32 3

After finishing 13th in the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event, Alex Livingston bettered his result that most will never even get close to. Livingston was all-class throughout his deep run in this event and even entertained us with a great story of his first World Series of Poker.

Last week This week
Garry Gates Unranked 4

The people’s champion of the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event is without a doubt Garry Gates! The long-time media professional had an amazing rail both inside the Amazon room and on social media as he played his way into an incredible fourth-place finish for $3,000,000.

Last week This week
Nick Schulman 14 5

Nick Schulman is a legend, won a WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better, played his heart out in the $100,000 High Roller where he finished third, and on top of that he was a hot item on Twitter the last two weeks.

Last week This week
Daniel Negreanu Unranked 6

Daniel Negreanu brought home the vegan bacon for his investors and rocked the WSOP Player of the Year standings by shooting up to the third place with a very strong showing. Across 17 cashes and three final tables, and more than $2 million in total earnings, Negreanu had a tremendous summer.

Last week This week
Phil Hellmuth Unranked 7

Phil Hellmuth almost did the same thing he did last year during the Main Event! Hellmuth made the final table of the $5,000 Turbo that closed out the series while also providing analysis for the ESPN broadcast.

Last week This week
Keith Tilston Unranked 8

Keith Tilston shows up whenever the money gets big and this summer he won his first WSOP bracelet in the $100,000 when defeating Daniel Negreanu heads up.

Last week This week
Nick Marchington 5 9

The youngest ever seventh-place finisher in the WSOP Main Event is named Nick Marchington as he fell just short of winning it and shaving five months of Joe Cada’s record. Marchington was all class, played his heart out and had some great words to say about his experience.

Last week This week
Shaun Deeb 4 10

Lastly, closing out the list this week is Shaun Deeb. Deeb had another crazy summer, falling just short of another bracelet win on numerous occasions. Deeb recorded 13 cashes made three final tables and cashed for $642k. Currently, Deeb is placed second on the WSOP Player of the Year race and looks to be headed to Rozvadov to lock up back-to-back POY wins.

On The Bubble

Tune in again next week for the latest Poker Central Power Rankings! Until then, listen to Brent Hanks and me discuss this week’s rankings on the Poker Central Podcast. Looking to watch the latest live and on-demand poker action? Subscribe to PokerGO right now. 

Daniel Negreanu, Alex Livingston, Phil Hellmuth, Shaun Deeb, Dario Sammartino, Nick Schulman, Keith Tilston, Garry Gates, Hossein Ensan, Nick Marchington