Alex Foxen created history when he managed to defend his GPI Player of the Year title after ultimately topping the 2019 ranking, outclassing previous frontrunners Sean Winter and Kahle Burns.
Foxen ended 2019 in dramatic fashion after winning the World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1,694,995.
The massive victory catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard, and earned him his second GPI POY title, having won his first one in 2018. The current all-time money list leader Bryn Kenney also battled it out to secure the top position, but in the end it was Foxen who would claim the title, mainly thanks to his first-place win in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Winter ultimately settled for No. 2 with 3679.19 points, more than 100 points away from Foxen who earned a score of 3806.09. The final results also saw Kenney sitting at No. 3 with 3647.81 points, followed by Burns at No. 4 with 3641.63 points, and Chidwick at No. 5 with 3637.94 points.
WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic
Foxen occupied the tenth spot of the GPI POY leaderboard when he entered one of the biggest tournaments in December. In order to secure a back-to-back POY victory, he needed to secure at least a second place finish in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, something he was able to achieve back in 2017.
However, Foxen exceeded expectations and dominated a field of 429 players, ultimately defeating Toby Joyce heads up to capture the top prize. This brought Foxen’s 2019 earnings to more than $6.3 million. His amazing run included 40 cashes, 22 final tables, and two titles. In October 2019, he also won the $20,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller at the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble in Jacksonville for $182,400.
His latest POY victory follows on from his impressive performance last year, in which he amassed over $6.6 million in tournament winnings, enough for him to secure the 2018 GPI POY.
Foxen’s girlfriend Kristen Bicknell also defended her title and closed out the year sitting at the top of the GPI Ladies POY ranking. The Canadian has also created a new record after winning the GPI POY title for three years in a row. She won 36 cashes last year, amounting to $2.4 million.
