Simply 4 years after changing into the primary British participant in poker historical past to win the Card Participant Participant of the Yr award in 2019, Stephen Chidwick has managed to place collectively one other unbelievable yr on the dwell event circuit that ended with him atop the 2022 POY factors race, which is introduced by World Poker.
The 33-year-old poker professional from Deal, England made 25 qualifying closing tables over the previous 12 months, successful 5 titles and cashing for greater than $6.2 million in POY earnings alongside the best way. He ended with 6,499 whole factors, which was simply 266 greater than second-ranked Farid Jattin.
With that slender lead holding by means of yr’s finish, Chidwick grew to become simply the second participant in poker’s fashionable period (2004-present) to earn the Card Participant Participant of the Yr award twice, becoming a member of Poker Corridor of Famer Daniel Negreanu.
“It’s undoubtedly a cool accomplishment,” Chidwick informed CardPlayer after clinching the 2022 POY honors. “With the inherent variance of event poker, it takes a very long time for outcomes to turn out to be significant. Doing nicely in year-long contests appears like a a lot larger achievement than any particular person event win.”
Chidwick’s consistency will not be restricted to year-long samples, both. He has been a prime contender within the POY race each yr from 2015 by means of at the moment, with eight consecutive prime 50 finishes in that timeframe. In reality, beginning in 2016, he has not failed to complete inside the highest 25, with a mean exhibiting of slightly below eighth place in that six-year span. Along with his two outright wins within the factors race, he additionally completed because the runner-up in 2018 and the seventh-place finisher in 2017.
When requested about this lengthy streak of regular efficiency, Chidwick famous, “I play a reasonably excessive quantity of the most important stakes tournaments which places me at a giant benefit. I’ve much more alternatives to place up huge scores particularly given I play brief deck, pot-limit Omaha, and different combined video games. At this level, I’ve spent extra time taking part in huge closing tables and/or on stream than most, so once I run nicely sufficient to go deep in a event I often really feel very comfy and assured I can do my greatest to capitalize on it.”
Chidwick has dwell event outcomes courting way back to January of 2008, however solely grew to become the common close to the highest of the POY standings within the mid-2010s. Chidwick supplied a couple of causes for his evolution from a profitable skilled to one of many stars of the sport.
“I began to take poker much more significantly round that point for a number of causes. I met my wife-to-be who gave me a ton of assist and motivation to attempt to understand my potential as a participant. I centered my efforts with much more dedication,” mentioned Chidwick. “Maybe probably the most important issue was the looks of the superior software program that’s now broadly used. I used to be an early adopter of these instruments and instantly noticed the massive potential they supplied for the event of a theoretical understanding of the sport. Actually, the time I’ve put in with solvers has been a giant contributing consider my success.”
One other evolution in Chidwick’s sport has to do along with his desk presence. In his early profession, it wasn’t notably noteworthy. Lately, although, the barbershop debates that now play out on the web more and more included Chidwick as one of many extra intimidating gamers within the sport, thanks partly to his generally unnerving staredown.
“After I began taking part in dwell I adopted a defensive posture, largely wanting down and attempting to not give something away with out a lot thought to choosing something up from others,” revealed Chidwick.
“Sooner or later I noticed this was simply an invite for my adversaries to take a look at me as a lot as they wished so I turned my consideration outward, taking a look at my opponent each time the motion was on them. I rapidly realized I used to be able to noticing way more than I had anticipated and the added complexity of factoring these reads into my choices is one thing that has captivated my curiosity ever since. It was by no means meant to intimidate, simply to have as a lot data as potential on which to base every choice.”
Along with successful the Card Participant POY race, Chidwick additionally ended 2022 atop the PokerGO Tour leaderboard, edging out the likes of dwelling legend Phil Ivey (2nd) and Jason Koon (third) in that high-stakes-centric level race.
Thanks partly to his POY-winning efficiency this yr, Chidwick now has greater than $44.9 million in profession event earnings, the fourth most of any participant within the sport. Under is an in-depth look again at his 2022 on the dwell circuit.
How Stephen Chidwick Gained His Second Card Participant POY Award
Chidwick began off the yr considerably slowly, not less than when put next with the remainder of his 2022 record of accomplishments. He made simply two closing tables within the first two months of the yr, ending fifth in a $15,000 buy-in Stairway To Hundreds of thousands occasion and fourth in a $25,000 buy-in held on the PokerGO Cup.
March was a a lot busier month for Chidwick, with 5 final-table finishes and his first title run of the yr. Chidwick topped a area of 52 entries in a €”5,200 buy-in no-limit maintain’em six-max occasion”:https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-tournaments/9414-2022-ept-prague/1139991/outcomes on the European Poker Tour Prague pageant for $86,590 and 240 POY factors. He additionally completed fourth in a €25,000 buy-in excessive curler there for an additional $56,527. He then made his means again to Las Vegas for the U.S. Poker Open on the PokerGO studio, the place he proceeded to make three closing tables for $287,500 in whole prize cash. As he talked about earlier, his familiarity with numerous video games performed an element, as he cashed in a pot-limit Omaha occasion, a big-bet combine occasion, and a no-limit maintain’em event.
April noticed one other pair of high-stakes final-table finishes for Chidwick. He completed fourth in a $50,000 brief deck occasion on the Tremendous Excessive Curler Sequence Europe for $231,0000 and 255 POY factors, and 6 days later positioned sixth within the $50,000 no-limit maintain’em occasion for an additional $95,000 and 136 factors.
Might was the most important month of the yr by far for Chidwick. He began off by securing his second POY-qualified title of the yr by taking down one other €5,200 six-max facet occasion at an EPT cease, this time in Monte Carlo. He earned one other $84,399 and 240 factors after outlasting a tricky area of 51 entries. He then went on to complete because the runner-up in a €25,000 buy-in excessive curler on the similar sequence for an additional $276,292 and 350 factors.
Subsequent up on the schedule was the Triton Sequence Madrid, which noticed Chidwick safe three of his prime 4 scores of the yr, together with his two largest cashes of 2022. He kicked issues off with a runner-up end within the 63-entry €75,000 buy-in no-limit maintain’em eight-max occasion for $1,355,985 and 510 factors. Simply two days later he added one other $291,375 and 272 factors by ending third in a €50,000 eight-max turbo occasion.
Chidwick closed out his large run in Madrid by beating a area of 60 entries within the €100,000 buy-in brief deck occasion, incomes $1,890,000 and 720 because the champion. This was his single largest rating of the yr and the second largest of his profession.
“My victory within the Triton Madrid €100k brief deck is the apparent spotlight of my yr. It was concurrently my first dwell brief deck win, my first Triton trophy, and my first win in a six-figure buy-in. Actually a particular expertise.”
Like most the remainder of the poker world, Chidwick’s summer time was largely spent in Las Vegas on the World Sequence of Poker. His first of two final-table appearances on the sequence noticed him end fifth within the $10,000 brief deck bracelet occasion for $65,143 and 250 factors. He later completed eighth within the $50,000 no-limit maintain’em occasion for an additional $158,278 and 170 factors.
Chidwick discovered loads of success in high-roller occasions held all through the summer time at ARIA Resort & On line casino. He made 4 POY-qualified closing tables on the Summer time Aria Excessive Rollers sequence, together with incomes his fourth and fifth POY-qualified titles of the yr in a pair of $10,000 buy-in occasions. These 4 scores added greater than $350,000 to his POY earnings whole, with $174,000 and $115,000 within the two wins. These scores additionally noticed Chidwick take the lead within the POY standings.
September noticed a trio of final-table showings for Chidwick, all coming in occasions held in Cyprus. He positioned fourth in a $10,400 buy-in occasion on the Mediterranean Poker Celebration for $100,000 and 360 factors. Only a few days later, he completed third from a area of 123 entries in a $30,000 buy-in six-max occasion within the Triton Mediterranean Poker Celebration sequence for an additional $408,000 and 748 factors. This was his third-largest rating of the yr. He rounded out his journey to Cyprus with a fourth-place end in a $25,500 pot-limit Omaha occasion for a further $92,000 and 168 factors.
Chidwick solely added two extra POY-qualified scores within the closing three months of the yr. In early October he positioned second in a $25,000 buy-in on the Aria Fall Excessive Rollers sequence for $161,000 and 210 factors. Later that month he positioned third in one other $25,000 buy-in occasion, this time on the 5 Diamond World Poker Basic pageant at Bellagio. He added $68,000 and 112 factors with that rating to convey his closing tally to six,499, with 25 POY-qualified closing tables and 5 certified victories.
“It has been nice to see poker rebound so nicely after Covid. Entrepreneurs like Cary Katz and Paul Phua have invested some huge cash and energy into working and broadcasting implausible high-roller tournaments and the recognition of the sport appears to simply continue to grow,” mentioned Chidwick when requested concerning the state of the sport in 2022. “I’m excited to see what the approaching years convey.”
Chidwick has been probably the most constant gamers within the sport for almost a decade now and doesn’t plan to chop again any time quickly.
“I hope to be aggressive on the highest ranges of poker for a lot of extra years,” mentioned Chidwick when requested if he plans to maintain grinding as he has not too long ago nicely into the long run, or if he ever intends to pursue one other profession in some unspecified time in the future. “I assume in some unspecified time in the future I’ll cut back my quantity however I nonetheless completely love the sport and don’t have any plans of switching careers any time quickly.”
Chidwick’s High Ten Scores of 2022:
Occasion
End
Payout
€100,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em Brief Deck
2022 Triton Sequence Madrid
1
$1,890,000
€75,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em Eight Max
2022 Triton Sequence Madrid
2
$1,355,985
Triton Mediterranean #2: $30,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em Six-Max
2022 Triton Mediterranean Poker Celebration
3
$408,000
€50,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em Eight Max Turbo
2022 Triton Sequence Madrid
3
$291,375
€25,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em
2022 EPT Monte Carlo
2
$276,292
SHRS Europe #2 – $50,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em Brief Deck
2022 Tremendous Excessive Curler Sequence Europe
4
$231,000
Triton Cyprus #1 – $50,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em Six Max
2022 Triton Poker Cyprus
7
$188,000
Aria Excessive Curler #14 – $10,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em
2022 Summer time Aria Excessive Rollers
1
$174,000
Aria Excessive Curler #22 – $25,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em
2022 Aria Fall Excessive Rollers
2
$161,000
$50,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em
2022 World Sequence of Poker
8
$158,278
A have a look at the highest 20 within the closing 2022 POY race standings:
Rank
Participant
Factors
Titles
Last Tables
POY Earnings
1
Stephen Chidwick
6,499
5
25
$6,207,739
2
Farid Jattin
6,233
3
15
$1,558,538
3
Stephen Tune
6,230
2
16
$2,065,501
4
Alex Foxen
5,417
4
20
$6,757,024
5
Jeremy Ausmus
5,356
6
21
$2,570,587
6
Chad Eveslage
5,302
2
7
$3,053,688
7
Erik Seidel
5,262
1
18
$3,671,084
8
Sean Winter
5,198
3
16
$3,417,569
9
Daniel Dvoress
4,859
2
19
$6,048,107
10
Chris Brewer
4,723
3
15
$2,635,840
11
Adam Hendrix
4,705
3
12
$1,288,807
12
Ali Imsirovic
4,683
6
20
$3,566,356
13
Steve O’Dwyer
4,665
3
13
$2,312,254
14
Jack Sinclair
4,608
0
7
$1,212,092
15
Probability Kornuth
4,597
4
10
$2,234,157
16
Sergio Aido
4,540
2
10
$2,663,894
17
Mikita Badziakouski
4,514
3
12
$6,886,934
18
Michael Watson
4,449
1
13
$4,288,414
19
Jake Schindler
4,322
4
10
$7,052,283
20
Joao Simao
4,314
1
5
$1,483,387
The Full Listing of Card Participant Participant of the Yr Winners:
Yr
Participant Identify
1997
Males Nguyen
1998
T.J. Cloutier
1999
Tony Ma
2000
David Pham
2001
Males Nguyen
2002
T.J. Cloutier
2003
Males Nguyen
2004
Daniel Negreanu
2005
Males Nguyen
2006
Michael Mizrachi
2007
David Pham
2008
John Phan
2009
Eric Baldwin
2010
Tom Marchese
2011
Ben Lamb
2012
Greg Merson
2013
Daniel Negreanu
2014
Daniel Colman
2015
Anthony Zinno
2016
David Peters
2017
Adrian Mateos
2018
Jake Schindler
2019
Stephen Chidwick
2020
Vincent Wan
2021
Ali Imsirovic
2022
Stephen Chidwick
Header picture photograph credit, left to proper: PokerGO/Antonio Abrego, Triton Poker/Joe Giron, and PokerGO/Antonio Abrego.
