Thailand’s Punnat Punsri has etched his name in poker history as the 2025 GPI Player of the Year, becoming the first Asian player ever to capture the prestigious Global Poker Index (GPI) PoY title. In a year defined by high-roller dominance and a globe‑trotting schedule, Punsri edged out back‑to‑back runner-up Jesse Lonis by fewer than eight points in one of the closest finishes the GPI race has seen.
What separates Punsri’s campaign from many past champions is how thoroughly he crushed the game’s toughest arenas, from Triton high rollers to World Series of Poker (WSOP) events spread across multiple continents. His year-end résumé also delivered yet another Thailand National Player of the Year trophy, his fifth consecutive, underscoring how firmly he sits atop the country’s rapidly growing live poker scene.
- Read more: Asia Poker News Round-up (May 27, 2025)
A $25K WPT High Roller Decides It
The 2025 GPI PoY race went down to the wire, with both Punsri and Lonis chasing points deep into December. The final swing came at the Wynn Las Vegas, where Punsri’s third‑place finish in a World Poker Tour $25,000 High Roller nudged him just ahead of Lonis for the year.
Punsri finished on 4,458.06 GPI points, barely holding off Lonis on 4,450.65 after both players racked up scores around the world in the closing weeks. For Lonis, it is déjà vu, as he finishes runner‑up in the overall GPI PoY race for the second year running, though he does claim a big consolation prize as the United States National Player of the Year.
A Monster $11M Live Year
Beyond points, the raw numbers behind Punsri’s season are staggering: nearly $11 million in live tournament earnings in 2025 alone. He put in huge volume and posted elite results across the Triton Poker Series and the WSOP, along with other top-tier stops.
His schedule read like a world tour of the modern high roller circuit, with major results in Jeju, Montenegro, Las Vegas, Barcelona, and Taiwan. That level of consistency against elite opposition is precisely what the GPI algorithm is designed to reward, and it is no surprise that Punsri not only captured the global PoY but also ended the year as the GPI world No. 1 heading into 2026.
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Lonis Claims First U.S. National PoY
While the overall crown slipped away by the narrowest of margins, 2025 still marked a career‑defining year for Jesse Lonis. The American grinder’s relentless schedule and deep runs across North America locked up his first United States National Player of the Year title.
Lonis begins 2026 ranked GPI No. 2, directly behind Punsri, setting up the possibility of another season‑long duel between two of the most active and successful live tournament players in the world. Given that Lonis has now finished second in the overall GPI PoY race in consecutive years, the narrative heading into the new season practically writes itself: unfinished business.
Kristen Foxen Extends GPI Female PoY Dynasty
On the women’s side, Canada’s Kristen Foxen reminded the poker world why her name is synonymous with sustained excellence. Foxen clinched the 2025 GPI Female Player of the Year by a landslide, amassing 3,734.64 points and finishing more than 700 points clear of 2024 Female PoY winner Cherish Andrews.
This is Foxen’s fifth Female GPI PoY title in the last eight years, further cementing her as one of the greatest live tournament performers of her generation. She also picked up her second Canadian National Player of the Year award and, perhaps most significantly, moved into the top spot on the Women’s All‑Time Money List in 2025, surpassing Vanessa Selbst, who held that mark for more than a decade.
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- Read more: Kristen Foxen Continues Her Winning Streak With a Win in PokerGo Cup Event #7
Lakhdari Owns the Mid-Major Arena
Algeria’s Omar Lakhdari claimed the 2025 GPI Mid-Major Player of the Year, awarded to the player who performs best in events with buy-ins under $2,500. Lakhdari finished the year with 2,786.79 points, edging American Evan Sandberg by just over 40 points in another tight race.
Lakhdari’s campaign was built on volume and closing ability, highlighted by nine top-three finishes in major events. His headline results included a WSOP Circuit Main Event victory in Middelkerke, two Chamda Poker Series Main Event titles, and a WPT Prime Championship Chamda win, all of which helped power him to his eighth Algerian National Player of the Year title and third straight.
National Player of the Year Storylines
Beyond the global races, the GPI’s National Player of the Year leaderboard produced a deep stack of narratives in 2025. Ninety‑three players scored at least 1,000 points to earn NPoY honors for their countries, with three nations—Cayman Islands, Iraq, and Monaco—crowning a National PoY for the first time.
Patrick Stacey became the inaugural Cayman Islands National Player of the Year, while Ali Muthana Al‑Kubasi and Ghassan Bitar broke new ground for Iraq and Monaco respectively. The list is also packed with familiar names: the UK’s Stephen Chidwick earned his 10th NPoY title and eighth in a row, while Chile’s Nick Yunis extended his streak to nine consecutive Chilean NPoY wins.
Records, First-Timers, and Regional Highlights
Several countries saw long‑time stars add to already impressive streaks, while others celebrated fresh faces at the top. Jose “Nacho” Barbero (Argentina), Joao Vieira (Portugal), Igor Yaroshevskyy (Ukraine), and Yiannis Liperis (Cyprus) each secured an eighth career NPoY title, underlining their ongoing dominance in their respective regions.
Closer to the Baltics, Lithuania’s Matas Cimbolas picked up his seventh National Player of the Year crown, while Moldova’s Pavel Plesuv captured his seventh Moldovan NPoY and Belarusian crusher Mikita Bodyakovsky added a sixth, including four in a row. Hong Kong’s Daniel Tang also continued his strong run with a sixth NPoY, his fourth consecutive, reflecting the depth and strength of the Asian high‑roller pool that Punsri now leads on the global stage.
At the same time, 2025 ushered in a wave of first-time national champions. New NPoY winners included Agharazi Babayev (Azerbaijan), Pedro Padilha (Brazil), Carlos Serrano (Colombia), Johan Schultz‑Pedersen (Denmark), Rami Awad (Egypt), Ottomar Ladva (Estonia), Christoph Vogelsang (Germany), Gergo Nagy (Hungary), Toby Joyce (Ireland), Barak Wisbrod (Israel), Iat Man Leong (Macau), Matthew Micallef (Malta), Tomas Szwarcberg (Mexico), JP Rounce‑Sue (New Zealand), Tom‑Aksel Bedell (Norway), Gerardo Rodriguez (Peru), Anibal Pabon (Puerto Rico), Danilo Velasevic (Serbia), Samuel Stranak (Slovakia), Blaž Žerjav (Slovenia), Bradley Moore (South Africa), Yohwan Lim (South Korea), Lautaro Guerra Cabrerizo (Spain), Viktor Blom (Sweden), Meng Ling “Candy” Lin (Taiwan), Baris Topuz (Turkey), Timur Makhamedaminov (Uzbekistan), Christian Roberts (Venezuela), and Nguyen Le (Vietnam).
GPI and THM Power the Numbers Engine Behind the Races
The GPI Player of the Year races are powered by the vast live data networks of the Global Poker Index and The Hendon Mob. The GPI rankings currently classify more than 650,000 active players from over 100 countries and track results from more than 35,000 festival series worldwide.
The Hendon Mob Poker Database has archived over 600,000 live tournaments and 5 million individual results, updated in near real-time via over 2,200 partner venues, making it the backbone of modern live poker statistics. Both brands operate under the Mediarex Group banner, a Malta‑founded global sports and entertainment organization established in 2012.
For poker fans and industry watchers alike, the 2025 GPI PoY results signal a subtle but meaningful shift: Asian and international stars like Punnat Punsri are no longer just part of the conversation, they are leading it. With Foxen, Lakhdari, Lonis and a deep roster of national champions all set to defend or improve on their performances, the 2026 race is already shaping up to be must‑follow viewing for the live poker world.
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