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Shaun Deeb Leads Tight WSOP Player of the Year Race

By Mrinal Gujare

17 Jul 2026

Mrinal Gujare 17 Jul 2026

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Shaun Deeb leads POY race by just 22 points over Naoya Kihara.
Deeb fired 122 entries and finished 15th in the Main Event.
WSOP Paradise will determine the final Player of the Year.

Image by Eloy Cabacas / Pokernews

Shaun Deeb holds a narrow Player of the Year lead over Naoya Kihara after a dramatic summer WSOP conclusion. Despite firing 122 entries and placing 15th in the Main Event, Deeb faces tough competition heading into WSOP Paradise.

The race for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year (POY) title concluded its summer segment in spectacular fashion.

The sweat came down to the wire as four of the top five contenders in the rankings put together deep runs in the exact same final event.

Alex Foxen, who maintained a firm grip on the leaderboard for the majority of the summer series, dropped to third place following the final event.

Japan's Naoya Kihara mounted a fierce charge, ultimately finishing higher than Shaun Deeb in that final tournament. However, Kihara's deep run was not quite enough to catapult him to the absolute top of the leaderboard. As a result, Deeb enters the upcoming WSOP Paradise holding the narrowest of margins.

The current standings see Deeb leading with 3,410 points, closely pursued by Kihara who sits at 3,388 points.

Beyond the top three, a star-studded lineup of poker players remains mathematically in contention for the prestigious title.

The chasing pack includes Daniel Negreanu, Jesse Lonis, Eelis Pärssinen, Benny Glaser, Nick Schulman, Calvin Anderson, and Michael Mizrachi.

Deeb approached the summer series with a clear, unrelenting motto: "I want to play everything." He backed up that statement by firing a staggering 122 entries across the bracelet events.

While Deeb only recorded five total cashes over the summer, he made them count by consistently securing finishes inside the top 20 places throughout the series. His brightest moment came in the $10K Main Event.

After eight grueling days of play, Deeb navigated his way to a 15th-place finish, which earned him a payout of $410,475.

His calm demeanor upon elimination caught many fans by surprise. Rather than stepping away to rest, Deeb registered for two additional tournaments just 10 minutes after his Main Event exit to maximize his POY point accumulation.

Statistical Breakdown of the Top Contenders

The consistency of the top players is reflected in their high volume of in-the-money finishes over the summer. The cash distributions among the key players highlight the different paths taken to climb the leaderboard:

Naoya Kihara: 18 cashes
Daniel Negreanu: 14 cashes
Alex Foxen: 14 cashes
Josh Arieh: 14 cashes
Michael Mizrachi: 7 cashes
Shaun Deeb: 5 cashes (finishes under top 20)

The battle for the POY crown will be decided at WSOP Paradise. This upcoming leg of the series traditionally favors no-limit hold'em high-roller tournaments over mixed games, a schedule structure that keeps Foxen heavily in the conversation for a comeback.

The official schedule for WSOP Paradise is expected to be released around the start of the WSOP Main Event final table, which begins at the start of August.