On January 7, 2026, the Global Poker Index (GPI) announced its official 2025 GPI Player of the Year awards. These include the overall GPI Player of the Year, GPI Female Player of the Year, and the GPI Mid-Major Player of the Year for buy-ins under $2,500.
Players from 93 different countries took home their country’s National Player of the Year honor, which required a minimum of 1,000 GPI accumulated for the 2025 poker season. Three players earned their nation’s inaugural Player of the Year award, representing the Cayman Islands, Iraq, and Monaco.
Carlos Serrano, known as ‘crumbs’ in Latin America, notably won Colombia’s Player of the Year honors, ending Farid Jattin’s ten-year run at the top.
Punnat Punsri wins 2025 GPI Player of the Year
Punnat Punsri became the first Asian player to win poker’s greatest annual achievement. Jesse Lonis came in second for the second consecutive year, brutally losing by a meager eight points. Punsri pulled barely ahead on December 17, recording a third-place finish at the WPT World Championship $25,400 High Roller for $277,125, which tacked on an additional 50 points.
Not only did Punsri win the GPI Player of the Year, but he is also currently the #1-ranked player in the world. Punsri finished 2025 with 61 in-the-money finishes, recorded seven wins, and won nearly $11,000,000 in live tournament earnings.
Punsri also won Thailand’s National Player of the Year for the fifth consecutive year.
Punnat Punsri 2025 tournament wins
- January:
₱20,000 ($344) APT Manila Classic Atomic Pineapple ($3,158) - February: $125,000 Triton Jeju 7-Max ($2,594,555)
- May: $26,000 Triton Montenegro PLO ($550,000)
- August: €10,200 EPT Barcelona Mystery Bounty (€84,723 / $99,204)
- September: $53,000 Triton Jeju II 7-Max ($1,697,000)
- October: KRW 1,500,000 ($1,068) APT Jeju Seven Card Stud Masters ($9,908)
- November: NT$ 7,000 ($220) APT Championship Quadruple Super Stud ($2,378)
Kristen Foxen wins fifth GPI Female Player of the Year award
Continuing her monster run was Kristen Foxen, who won the GPI Female Player of the Year award for the fifth time in the last eight years. Foxen, who finished #21 in the overall GPI Player of the Year rankings, absolutely steamrolled her way to victory, finishing over 740 points clear of her closest competitor, Cherish Andrews.
Foxen, who has become a Triton Super High Roller regular in the last 14 months, had another phenomenal year, with the 32nd-ranked player in the world adding 39 cashes, three wins, and over $4.65 million to her live career tournament earnings of $13,261,312. That number is the most cash ever won by a woman, taking over the top spot from Vanessa Selbst after she held the record for well over a decade.
During her 2025 campaign, Foxen recorded her first-career seven-figure score at Triton Jeju II, finishing third in the $125,000 7-Max tournament for $1,104,000. Foxen also won Canada’s National Player of the Year for the second time, beating out Daniel Negreanu by about 485 points.
Kristen Foxen 2025 tournament wins
- January – $10,100 PGT Kickoff #5 ($197,625)
- February – $15,100 PGT PokerGO Cup #7 ($348,300)
- April = $5,100 PGT U.S. Poker Open #1 ($158,025)
Omar Lakhdari wins GPI Mid-Major Player of the Year award
In 2025, Algeria’s Omar Lakhdari shone above them all in tournaments at the $2,500 buy-in level and below. Amongst his five wins in 2025, he won a staggering four Main Event titles, including the illustrious 1,391-entry WPT Prime Championship in Cyprus and the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Middelkerke, Belgium.
Overall, Lakhdari had 33 cashes in 2025, including 14 top-10 finishes, for a total of $957,403 in earnings, bringing his career live tournament earnings to nearly $4.2 million. Lakhdari also won Algeria’s National Player of the Year for the eighth time, winning the honor for the third consecutive year.
Omar Lakhdari 2025 tournament wins
- March – $1,100 WPT Prime Championship, Cyprus ($200,830)
- May – $1,100 Chamada Poker Series Mystery Bounty ($12,000)
- May – $2,200 CHAMADA Main Event ($140,000)
- June – $2,200 CHAMADA Main Event ($148,000)
- November –
€1,500 WSOPC Middelkerke Main Event (€118,000/$136,427)
Lonis, Barbero, Punsri, Martirosyan earn Continental Player of the Year honors
Jesse Lonis won his first USA National Player of the Year award and took home the North America Player of the Year, defeating his compatriot Alex Foxen by 155 points.
In Latin America, Argentina’s Nacho Barbero led the way once again, crushing the field by over 600 points. Brazil’s Pedro Padilha was next closest, followed by Colombia’s Carlos Serrano. This was Barbero’s third straight Latin America Player of the Year win.
Of course, Punnat Punsri won the Asia Player of the Year award, while Russia’s Artur Martirosyan beat Austria’s Daniel Rezaei by 307 points to claim the European Player of the Year honor.
References
Global Poker Index: https://www.globalpokerindex.com/
