The end to the professional poker season is coming to a close and with it, the race for the Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year (POY). Stephen Chidwick had been leading the race with a slight edge over Justin Bonomo, but now he’s been bumped down a notch. Taking his place is a familiar player who has had a successful end-of-year run—Alex Foxen.
Foxen recently finished second at the partypoker Millions Dusk Till Dawn Main Event and picked up $947,916. On top of the massive pot, he also propelled himself to the top of the GPI POY leaderboard with 3,710.76 points. Chidwick remains with the same amount of points he had a week ago—4,691.67—as does Bonomo, 3,660.28.
The poker pro had earned $2.2 million in live action prior to the beginning of this season, according to Hendon Mob. He only has cash earnings registered since 2012 and saw a huge jump from last year to this one. He now has more than $6.1 million in live cashes, of which $3.9 million came this year from 18 cashes.
Between last December and this past September, Foxen earned over $5 million in live-tournament action, including a second-place finish at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1.13 million. At the rate he’s going, he could reach $7 million by the end of 2018. His success should undoubtedly show that poker is much more than just a game of chance.
This past August, Foxen said that his goal was to earn enough points to be in the number-one spot in the rankings. He now seems to be determined to make that a reality. The race isn’t quite over yet, but he is certainly setting himself to be in a winning position.
Foxen is half of a poker-winning team. His girlfriend is Kristen Bicknell, who has around $2.25 million in live-action winnings, according to Hendon Mob. Of that, $1 million has come in the past ten months. Bicknell is currently ranked 16th in the GPI rankings and is the highest-ranked female player in the world. Her chances of winning the Female Poker Player of the Year are extremely good and, if she does, it will mark the second year in a row that she has received the title.
