Punnat Punsri took home the GPI POY title
On January 7, the Global Poker Index (GPI) officially confirmed that Punnat Punsri has won the 2025 GPI Player of the Year title. This victory marks a historic milestone as Punsri becomes the first Asian player to ever secure the world’s top ranking.
The race concluded in a dramatic finish at the Wynn Las Vegas during the final week of December, where Punsri earned a critical third-place finish in a $25,000 High Roller to maintain a lead over American pro Jesse Lonis. The final margin was exceptionally narrow, with Punsri finishing at $4,458.06$ points compared to Lonis’s $4,450.65$.
Punsri’s 2025 campaign was defined by volume and high-stakes dominance, featuring over $10.9 million in live tournament earnings, seven championship titles, and 61 “in the money” finishes across various tours including Triton, the APT, and the WSOP.
His performance throughout the year demonstrated remarkable consistency; he achieved seven outright victories and surpassed the $30 million mark in career earnings. Punsri has also used his success to advocate for the formal regulation of poker in Thailand, emphasizing the potential for tax revenue and tourism.
In the same awards cycle, Kristen Foxen secured her fifth GPI Female Player of the Year title with a total of $3,734.64$ points, finishing nearly 800 points ahead of her closest competitor, Cherish Andrews. Other notable winners included Algeria’s Omar Lakhdari, who won the Mid-Major Player of the Year title with $2,836.21$ points.
The official 2025 rankings illustrate a shift toward international diversity in the high-stakes circuit, with players from Thailand, Algeria, and Argentina appearing in the top ten. This globalization of the GPI leaderboard highlights the increasing competitiveness of professional poker outside of traditional North American and European strongholds.
