One of the poker industry’s leading media resources for news and information about the game, Card Player Media, has announced the winner of this year’s Poker Player of the Year (POY) title.

David “The Dragon” Pham won the title for the second time in his poker career, after beating other top players in a point-ranking system.

Since 1997, Card Player Media has been running this prestigious competition in order to honor the most successful poker tournament players in the business. The rankings are based on tournament finishes and track the players’ success throughout the year before the final announcement at the end of December.

David Pham took the lead in the points competition in August and remained at the number one spot until Card Player Media made the announcement. He clinched his victory after winning the No Limit Hold ‘em event at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the beginning of December. “The Dragon” also took home a hefty $280,000 in prize money for his efforts. 

However, the fight for the title was tough, with only 814 points difference between David Pham’s top point rankings and the second placed J.C. Tran. In the end, however, Pham played to victory with 6,562 points. Tran finished with 5,748 points, followed by Jonathan Little with 5,272 points, Scott Clements with 5,138 points and, finally, William Edler with 4,777 points. 

Pham won Card Player Media’s Player of the Year award in 2000 as well, although he is certainly not the first poker pro to win the title more than once. Men Nguyen has won the title no less than four times and T.J. Cloutier has also won twice.  

David Pham has had a fantastic year on the tournament circuit. This 40 year old player, who was born in and fled to the on a rickety boat at the age of 17, became a professional after learning first hand from his cousin, Men Nguyen. He won money in tournaments no less than 18 times this year, and managed to make the final table 11 times. 

All in all, Pham won over $1.8-million at tournaments this year, by winning four events including two events at the Winning o’ the Green series (with $1000 and $500 buy ins), and the $5000 buy in Mirage Poker Showdown Heads Up event. 

Author:  Renee Kingsley