The race for WSOP Player of the Year is at a peak with the Main Event starting today. Last week, Shaun Deeb claimed top honors thanks to his win in the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller. Deeb is in second-place and in his former throne is John Hennigan.

Hennigan led the race a few weeks ago when he peaked with a $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. bracelet and runner-up honors in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Mixed games are Hennigan’s primary strength and he flexed a new muscle to go over 3,000 total POY points. The five-time bracelet winner finished seventh in the $10,000 Razz and final two-tabled the $10,000 Limit Hold’em.

Over the weekend, Hennigan added a 16th place finish in the $3,200 WSOP.com Online High Roller to his list of cashes. Hennigan traveled to the payout desk nine times so far this summer and is yet to cash in the same game twice. Since June 2, Hennigan finishes in events are no worse than 16th place.

Deeb trails Hennigan by nearly 330 points and needs to reach another final table to pass ‘Johnny World.’ Tied for second on the 2018 cashes list with 12, Deeb joined two small No Limit scores to his total. A min-cash in the $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty and $1,000 Online bracelet event added some points but not enough to be within immediate striking distance of Hennigan.

$1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo gold medalist Julien Martini surges up to third place. Seven cashes and two final tables equals 2,096.31 for the highest ranking European. Martini’s second final table of the summer came in the $10,000 Razz where he laddered to third place and $134,587.

There is a gap of close to 700 points between Martini and Deeb, making the race a two-player affair at this stage.

Eric Baldwin’s online background displayed itself with a cash in both the $1,000 and $3,200 bracelet events. Baldwin cashed in both and is up to eight scores on the summer.

Mike Leah made the biggest move from players not previously in the top-10. Leah’s seventh and eight cashes of the WSOP came in consecutive $10,000 events. A seventh-place spot in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha and fourth-place bid in the $10,000 Razz bring him over 2,000 points.

Elio Fox’s place on the podium is at an end. The $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty bracelet winner has not cashed at the WSOP since June 9 in the Millionaire Maker. Paul Volpe hangs in the top-10 thanks to his cash $10,000 Razz.

Scott Bohlman, Justin Liberto, and Anthony Zinno all welcome themselves to the top-10 for the first time all summer.

Bohlman won his first bracelet on June 21 in the $2,500 Big Bet Mix and supplemented the hardware with sixth place in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha.

Fifth place in the Millionaire Maker is Liberto’s crowning achievement of his WSOP campaign and he now has two final tables to his name in 2018. Liberto fell in seventh in the $3,200 Online High Roller for $37,356.

Zinno also cashed in the two online events and has three online cashes this summer including third-place in the $565 Pot Limit Omaha. His mixed game magic includes a bronze medal from the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. Zinno is up to nine cashes this summer.

Top 10 2018 WSOP Player Of The Year Points Thru 7/2