Santhosh Suvarna Crowned India’s 2024 GPI Player of the Year; David Coleman, Cherish Andrews & Han Feng Among the Big POY Winners

The Global Poker Index (GPI) just dropped its 2024 Player of the Year winners on January 6, and the numbers are mind-blowing. Leading the charge for India is none other than Santhosh Suvarna (cover image), who closed out the year with a whopping 3,145.42 points. Given the red-hot run he’s been on, nobody’s the least bit surprised.

If you’ve been following the Indian poker scene, you know that 2024 was the year of Santhosh Suvarna. He snagged his first-ever EPT title, captured his second WSOP bracelet (in the $250K Super High Roller, no less, for a jaw-dropping $5.415 Million), and made countless final tables and deep runs in some of the biggest buy-in tournaments around the world. Midway through the year, he climbed to the top of India’s all-time money list and never looked back. The stats are insane: he boasts over $15 Million (~₹129 Crores) in live tournament winnings, with an incredible $8.40 Million (~₹71.70 Crores) coming from 25 cashes in 2024 alone.

Suvarna’s dominance was so complete that it left little room for Ankit Ahuja to claim a record-extending third GPI (India) POY title. Despite Ahuja’s own stellar performances, Suvarna’s unstoppable run, including that WSOP bracelet and EPT title, was simply too much to overcome. Ahuja, a globetrotting tournament crusher, had to settle for second place with 2,565.90 points. Meanwhile, WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer locked in the #3 spot for the second year in a row with 2,086.44 points.

Fourth place went to Nishant Sharma, who surged up the rankings thanks to a Poker Dream Main Event hat trick, finishing with 2,057.28 points. Not far behind was Kunal Patni, Natural8 India’s Executive Director and brand ambassador, whose APT exploits carried him to the #5 spot with 1,862.12 points.

On the global stage, David Coleman was named 2024’s overall GPI Player of the Year. He just barely edged out Jesse Lonis in the final stretch of December, ending with 4,383.70 points across his top 13 results. That buzzer-beater finish gives Coleman every right to call himself the best poker player of 2024.

In the female division, Cherish Andrews reclaimed the title, defeating four-time GPI Female Player of the Year Kristen Foxen. Andrews, who previously won the award in 2022, lost it to Foxen in 2023 but came back strong this year, earning 3,115.65 points—almost 100 points ahead of Foxen. These two phenomenal players have won six of the past seven Female GPI PoY titles.

In an almost double-crown performance, Andrews nearly topped the GPI Mid-Major PoY race, finishing runner-up to Han Feng. Feng put an exclamation mark on 2024 with 3,014.45 points in events with buy-ins below $2,500.

♣️📊 David Coleman, Cherish @CherishAndrews Andrews, & Han Feng Win 2024 GPI Player of the Year Races
🔹 A record of 90 players win National Player of the Year honors
🔗 https://t.co/36Oq8P80yJ pic.twitter.com/1Xu0sJNo9j

— Global Poker Index (@gpi) January 6, 2025

While Coleman added the North America GPI PoY to his list of achievements, Adrian Mateos was the king of Europe, Ren Lin dominated Asia, and Jose “Nacho” Barbero reigned in the South America rankings.

A remarkable 90 different nations had players who led their countries and crossed the 1,000-point mark in 2024, including Coleman himself. Farid Jattin was once again the top player in Colombia for the tenth year in a row—still the only Colombian player ever to capture this honour. Spain’s Mateos and England’s Stephen Chidwick both claimed their ninth national GPI POY titles, while Nick Yunis, originally from Chile and now based in Florida, picked up his eighth. Several other players joined the seven-time club for leading their nations in 2024.

Three players brought their countries their first-ever GPI National PoY distinction by surpassing 1,000 points: Afghanistan’s Amani Ezatulla, Iceland’s Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson, and Jersey’s Eddie Quinn. Altogether, 11 players, led by Coleman and Mateos, soared past 3,000 points and finished first in their respective nations.

Coleman, Andrews, and Feng will all be invited to the 2024 GPI Awards ceremony in Las Vegas, where they’ll receive their well-deserved trophies.

Santhosh Suvarna’s Record-Breaking Year

In 2023, Santhosh Suvarna narrowly missed the GPI PoY India title, finishing just 159.2 points behind Ankit Ahuja. But in 2024, he came roaring back, leaving everyone else scrambling to catch up. By the end of the year, he was a whopping 579.52 points ahead of second-place Ahuja.

Suvarna piled up 25 cash finishes in 2024, but only his top 13 counted toward his GPI PoY score. Unsurprisingly, his $250K Super High Roller WSOP bracelet win was the biggest contributor, piling on an impressive 284.88 points to his total.

Santhosh Suvarna’s Qualifying Scores For 2024 GPI PoY

This epic performance didn’t just catapult Suvarna to the top in India but also pushed him to #8 in the GPI Asia race. He achieved eight of the ten biggest live scores recorded by Indians in 2024. While 2023 was Suvarna’s breakout year, 2024 was his year of domination. His 2023 performance earned him a GPI Breakout Player nomination, and we’re all eager to see if his even more impressive 2024 run will earn him another nod – and maybe even a win – at the Global Poker Awards!

2024 GPI PoY India Results

1. Santhosh Suvarna – 3,145.42
2. Ankit Ahuja – 2,565.90
3. Abhinav Iyer – 2,086.44
4. Nishant Sharma – 2,057.28
5. Kunal Patni – 1,862.12

David Coleman: GPI PoY & PoY (North America)

The biggest honour of 2024 went to New Jersey’s David Coleman, who edged out Jesse Lonis and Adrian Mateos after a white-knuckle three-way chase for the top spot on the GPI’s global leaderboard. Coleman wrapped up the year with 4,383.70 points, just 9.32 points ahead of Lonis’s 4,374.38. Mateos also soared past the 4,300-point mark. While Lonis narrowly missed the title, he’s still in first place on the rolling GPI global rankings as we head into 2025.

Coleman, the newly crowned GPI Player of the Year, had a career-defining year, amassing over $5.20 Million in live tournament earnings—a significant leap over everything he’d earned up to this point. He achieved his top three personal-best scores in 2024, highlighted by a $730,300 payday in July for winning the $25,000 buy-in WPT Alpha8 Trifecta.

The New Yorker capped off his spectacular run with an $890,000 score for sixth place in the WSOP Paradise $100,000 Triton Main Event, which nudged him just past Lonis in the final days of the year. Lonis, for his part, also turned in a remarkable performance throughout 2024, falling just shy of the top.

Coleman also claimed the GPI PoY title for North America, making it a truly unforgettable year for the New Jersey native.

2024 GPI PoY Results

1. David Coleman – 4,383.70
2. Jesse Lonis – 4,374.38
3. Adrian Mateos – 4,312.44
4. Ren Lin – 4,074.93
5. Michael Watson – 4,026.29

Cherish Andrews: Female GPI PoY

Cherish Andrews battled her way to a nail-biting victory over Kristen Foxen in the 2024 GPI Female Player of the Year race. Andrews ended with 3,115.65 points, while Foxen—always near the top in this category—wrapped up her year with 2,916.13. Andrews, like David Coleman, had to dig deep in December to secure the win.

Her final push included a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring win at Harrah’s Cherokee for $108,971. She then tacked on another $40,000 in winnings, which kept her safely ahead of Foxen, last year’s winner (who also claimed the title in 2017, 2018, and 2019).

While the GPI Female Player of the Year race has morphed into a regular face-off between Andrews and Foxen, there were still other threats: Victoria Livschitz, Rania Nasreddine, and Maria Konnikova all made legitimate runs for the top honours.

As for Andrews, she took down three titles this past year, made the money 36 times, and scooped up a personal-best $829,863 in live earnings. All told her lifetime winnings now hover near $2.70 Million, a mark that’ll only rise if she keeps playing at this level.

2024 Women’s GPI PoY Results

1. Cherish Andrews – 3,115.65
2. Kristen Foxen – 2,916.13
3. Victoria Livschitz – 2,649.56
4. Rania Nasreddine – 2,541.39
5. Maria Konnikova – 2,266.71

Han Feng: GPI Mid-Major PoY

Cherish Andrews nearly pulled off a double PoY sweep this year but came in second to San Antonio’s Han Feng in the GPI Mid-Major PoY race. Feng wrapped up his 2024 campaign with 3,014.45 points in events with buy-ins under $2,500.

He definitely made waves throughout the year, but what really put him over the top were three first-place finishes: the Champions Club Fall Poker Open Main Event, the WSOPC Tulsa Main Event, and the Moneymaker Poker Tour Houston Main Event.

Meanwhile, India’s Ankit Ahuja, who took fourth in last year’s Mid-Major standings, ended at #28 this time around.

2024 GPI Mid-Major PoY Results

1. Han Feng – 3,014.45
2. Cherish Andrews – 2,845.53
3. Luis Yepez – 2,603.67
4. Steve Yea – 2,597.25
5. Hugues Girard – 2,566.00

Content Courtesy: Global Poker Index