These players are dominating the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard.

The competition for the 2026 WSOP Player of the Year is fierce, with Nick Schulman, Alex Foxen, and Naoya Kihara occupying the top three spots. Schulman leads with 2,002 points, while defending champion Shaun Deeb remains in the top ten.

Three players, four gold bracelets, and countless final table appearances. The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) isn't even halfway through, but the competition for WSOP Player of the Year (POY) is already fierce. Nick Schulman, Alex Foxen, and Naoya Kihara have all delivered outstanding performances this summer, kicking off this competition.

These three players occupy the top three spots on the POY leaderboard, while other players in the top ten include seven-time POY bracelet winner Josh Arieh, high-stakes top player Chris Hunichen, and Midwestern veteran Richard Alsup. Two-time POY winner Shaun Deeb is also in the top ten, despite having only one winning ticket this summer.

WSOP Player of the Year Top 10 Rankings

These three's career-level summer

Poker Hall of Famer Schulman currently leads the POY leaderboard with 2,002 points, most of which came from his eighth gold bracelet win at the $1,500 HORSE event. Prior to that, he had just finished as runner-up at the $1,500 Limit Badogee event. Schulman has also made two other final table appearances, most recently finishing fifth at the $10,000 Big O tournament.

PokerNews reported earlier this week on Schulman's hot summer start; you can read the report here.

Before Kristen Foxen's celebrations for her sixth WSOP bracelet ended, Alex Foxen had already returned to the WSOP championship ranks, winning her fourth bracelet in the $10,000 Super Bounty event. The high-stakes champion has had an impressive summer, including a third-place finish in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship ($300,000), a fifth-place finish in the $600 NLH/PLO ($55,305), and a sixth-place finish in the $100,000 High Roller ($522,347).

The Foxen family has already won two gold bracelets this summer, but Japan's Kihara also has two to go – he won the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Low Stud Draw Championship and the $10,000 Limit Seven-Card Stud Championship. This is undoubtedly a remarkable achievement for a player who has only won one gold bracelet before, in 2012.

Kihara is tied for third place on the POY leaderboard with 1,686 points, the same as Dennis Weiss from Germany. Weiss won the $1,500 Limit Texas Hold'em Championship ($133,704), finished second in the $1,500 Limit Razz ($90,354), and finished fifth in the $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo ($56,738).

The title defense for POY is still heating up.

After winning his second POY title in 2025 and finishing as runner-up twice at the WSOP Europe earlier this year, all eyes are on Shaun Deeb's POY campaign. But this tireless player only had one winning record this summer – albeit a final table finish at the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Low Stud Draw Championship, for a prize of $99,557.

But never rule out Deeb – he remains seventh in the POY rankings with 1,602 points. He is consistently a top contender for POY and was selected in the $25k Dream Draft with $133, making him the highest-valued player.

The WSOP POY competition was the topic of discussion on the latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which premiered this Thursday morning. Tune in to hear from Chad Holloway, Ben Ludlow, and two-time WSOP POY winners. WSOP.com POY champion Mike Holtz's thoughts on this year's POY competition.

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