10 Jan 2026 Beginner This material is for beginner players Global Poker announced on Wednesday that Punnat Punsri received the title of GPI Player of the Year and Kristen Foxen was named GPI Female Player of the Year. Each player had a fantastic season that they will remember for a long time. Punsri’s victory was the first time an Asian player won the GPI Player of the Year award. It signified a big growth of poker in Asia. On the other hand, Foxen’s road to victory was one of pure dominance. She has won the Female Player of the Year award for the fifth time in eight years, breaking a record in the process. ♣️📊 Punnat Punsri 🇹🇭, Kristen @krissyb24poker Foxen 🇨🇦, & Omar Lakhdari 🇩🇿 Win 2025 GPI Player of the Year Races 🔹93 National Player of the Year (>1,000 points) ℹ️ https://t.co/k823STZxUI pic.twitter.com/FQwaZi3qYd — Global Poker Index (@gpi) January 7, 2026 2025 GPI Player of the Year Top 10 Standings Ranking Player Score (pts) 1 Punnat Punsri 4,458.06 2 Jesse Lonis 4,450.65 3 Artur Martirosian 4,323.49 4 William Alex Foxen 4,295.95 5 Brandon Wilson 4,219.89 6 Daniel Rezaei 4,016.51 7 Quan Zhou 4,016.43 8 Nacho Barbero 4,001.86 9 Klemens Roiter 3,997.79 10 Thomas Boivin 3,973.15 A Tight Race Ends With a Historic Winner The 2025 GPI Player of the Year race was one of the closest in the recent past. Artur Martirosian, Jesse Lonis, and Punsri took turns being in the lead throughout the season. There was no clear winner as December came to an end. This put a lot of pressure on the three players, as every late score counted. The last events determined the clear winner. In the end, Punsri was the last man standing. He beat Lonis, taking first place, while Martirosian finished third. This was Lonis’s second year in a row where he missed the GPI Player of the Year by placing second. Foxen dominated the tables in the female category. She had accumulated more points due to her significant lead over the competition, and her competitors were unable to close the large gap. As the season reached its end, she was ahead of Cherish Andrews in second place and Meng Ling Lin in third place and captured a record-breaking fifth Female Player of the Year title. Punsri’s Consistency Sets Him Apart Punnat Punsri Punsri captured the Player of the Year title after consistently posting impressive results in the biggest events in the game. As a matter of fact, he has reached at least one final table at every Triton stop since 2022 as a regular in the Triton Poker Tour. It is a fantastic feat. In 2025, Punsri won three Triton titles and earned almost $11,000,000 in live tournaments. Punsri did not just perform well in high-stakes events. He had an impressive all-round performance featuring deep runs at the World Series of Poker, the European Poker Tour, and the Asian Poker Tour. These performances proved his versatility as a poker player since he dominated in different poker formats at varying buy-in levels. His season ended with the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas. The series gave him a late points boost, which catapulted him to secure the title. Punsri’s victory was of immense significance for poker in Thailand. In 2025, poker became legal in the country as a mental sport. This was also around the time of Punsri’s big career moment. It was a big deal for Asian poker players to win because it showed how good they are getting on the world stage. Foxen Delivers a Career-Defining Year Kristen Foxen Kristen Foxen had one of the best seasons as a female player in 2025. She performed considerably well in several big tours and won more than $4.6 million in live events. Foxen started 2025 with a bang by winning three PokerGO Tour events by April. She continued her good performance by final tabling a number of Triton Super High Roller Series tournaments. She won 1.1 million dollars at Triton Jeju II by coming in third place in the 125,000-dollar No Limit Hold ’em event. That was her big moment. She won more money than any other woman in history and is currently ahead of Vanessa Selbst on the Women’s All-Time Money List. Furthermore, Foxen was also successful on the PokerGO Tour and the North American Poker Tour. Her excellent results at WSOP Paradise at the end of the year ensured no one could catch her in terms of points. 2025 GPI Female Player of the Year Top 10 Standings Ranking Player Score 1 Kristen Foxen 3,734.64 pts 2 Cherish Andrews 2,993.49 pts 3 Meng Ling Lin 2,836.78 pts 4 Cecile Ticherfatine 2,722.87 pts 5 Victoria Livschitz 2,583.25 pts 6 Thi Xoa Nguyen 2,353.46 pts 7 Ebony Kenney 2,210.32 pts 8 Kitty Kuo 2,179.01 pts 9 Jessica Vierling 2,139.38 pts 10 Shundan Xiao 2,098.06 pts Global Recognition Across Every Level Along with the main awards, the GPI also confirmed several other outstanding performances. Mid-Major Player of the Year went to Omar Lakhdari from Algeria, who won events with buy-ins of less than $2,500. His nine top-three finishes put him almost 150 points ahead of Evan Sandberg. These included a win in the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Middelkerke and several wins in the Chamada Poker Series. Many well-known people were given regional awards. Jesse Lonis was named North American Player of the Year. The Latin American Player of the Year award went to Nacho Barbero. The winner of European Player of the Year was Artur Martirosian. Punsri was named Asian Player of the Year.
