MN Player of the Year: Rules (draft for 2027)

1. Research: how others do it

What we took from each:

• From the WSOP: the rank-ratio core, the C multiplier, the best-N limit, scoring once per event, and the averaging rule for players eliminated together.
• From the GPI: a log curve for buy-ins, with a floor and a cap.
• From Card Player: a minimum field size. Card Player's tier tables are simple, but they create jumps at the tier edges, so we use smooth curves instead.

2. Formula

Points = 10 × C × B × |ln(finish ÷ entries)|^1.7 × M
  then clamped to [10, 3000] for any cash, and rounded

• C (finish multiplier): win 6, final table (top 9, or the room's official FT size) 4, other in-the-money finish 2. Non-cashes get nothing. We can't verify them, so the WSOP's "bust = 1" doesn't apply here.
• Field size: handled by |ln(finish ÷ entries)|^1.7, the WSOP rank ratio. A win in a 60-entry field is worth 4.09^1.7 ≈ 11.0. A win in a 500-entry field is worth 6.21^1.7 ≈ 22.3. That's about 2× the points for about 8× the field, so bigger fields always earn more, with diminishing returns.
• B (buy-in factor): 1 + log10(buyin ÷ 100). The buy-in is the full price including the fee, held between $50 and $5,000. $50 = 0.70, $100 = 1.00, $300 = 1.48, $1,100 = 2.04, $2,500 = 2.40, $5,000+ = 2.70. A 10× bigger buy-in adds +1.0 to B, so it never multiplies points by 10. (The WSOP uses a 4.5th root. On a range like $50 to $2,500, a log curve treats small buy-ins more fairly.)
• M (main event bonus): ×1.25 for a series Main Event, meaning the event the room names as the Main Event of the Canterbury Fall/Spring/Summer Classic or a Running Aces series (one per series). Otherwise M = 1.
• Event cap: 3,000 points, so one big score can't run away with the race. Floor: 10 points for any cash.
• Season total: the sum of a player's best 15 event scores.

Worked example (EXAMPLE DATA, not real events)

Step by step for the Event B winner: ln(1/180) = −5.193, so |·|^1.7 = 16.44. Then 10 × 6 × 1.477 × 16.44 × 1 = 1,458.

Sample race (example players):

• Player Two wins C only: 3,000.
• Player Three goes 2nd in A and wins B: 321 + 1,458 = 1,779.
• Player One wins A, finishes 9th in B and 40th in C (cashed): 659 + 382 + 247 = 1,288.

The Main Event still counts for the most, but a player who wins two smaller events can catch up, because of the event cap and the best-15 rule.

3. Full rules

• 1. Season. Results dated Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2027, by the event's start day (Day 1). A multi-day event counts in the season its Day 1 starts. The race resets every Jan 1.
• 2. Eligible events. Open, buy-in NLH/PLO/mixed tournaments at Canterbury Park and Running Aces with a regular finish-based prize pool. That includes weeklies, dailies and series events.
• 3. Excluded events. Satellites and super-satellites (their prizes are seats), freerolls, leagues and promo events, and restricted events (Seniors, Ladies, Young Crushers / age-limited, Tag-Team, employee, invite-only). Bounty, PKO (progressive knockout) and Mystery Bounty events COUNT toward POY. They are scored on finishing position only, with the same formula as any other event; bounty and knockout winnings are ignored. Why: this rewards players in POY contention for going deep instead of only chasing bounties. Turbos, rebuys and re-entry events count.
• 4. Minimum field. At least 20 total entries. Below that, the event scores 0 points but is still listed.
• 5. Entries and re-entries. "Entries" means total entries, re-entries included (same as the WSOP). It doesn't count unique players. A player scores once per event, at their final finish. Multiple flights that combine into one Day 2 are one event. A satellite that pays a seat into an event doesn't score.
• 6. Finish multiplier. Win 6, final table 4 (top 9, or the room's official FT size if smaller), other cash 2. Each cash gets at least 10 points.
• 7. Buy-in. Use the full posted price including the fee, held between $50 and $5,000. Add-ons and rebuys don't change B. For multi-price events (for example $150/$300 or a deep-stack option), use the main published buy-in.
• 8. Main event bonus. ×1.25 for one designated Main Event per series. We list the qualifying events before each series starts.
• 9. Event cap. No event scores more than 3,000 points, bonus included.
• 10. Best 15. Only a player's best 15 event scores count. All results are still shown.
• 11. Chops / deals. We go by the official finishing order the room publishes. If the room lists a chop with no order (for example "Player A and Player B chopped"), each chopping player gets the average points for the places they covered (the WSOP rule for players eliminated together). C is set by the player's own spot. In a heads-up chop, both players get the average of 1st and 2nd points, and the win is credited only if the room names a winner. A chip-count or ICM deal doesn't change anyone's finish.
• 12. Ties in finish (eliminated on the same hand): those players get the average of the points for the tied places.
• 13. Tiebreakers for the season (in order): (1) more wins, (2) more final tables, (3) higher best single-event score, (4) more cashes, (5) first to reach the tied total, by date. If players are still tied after that, they share the title.
• 14. Names and aliases. Every result links to a player ID, starting from the name as the room printed it. We keep an alias file that maps spellings to the same ID, like "ASH GANDHI" = "ASHISH P GANDHI" or "Ash Gandhi". Names are matched in lowercase, without punctuation or middle initials. We only merge when (a) the room confirms, (b) the player confirms, or (c) the names are exact after normalizing and there's no conflict. Two different people who share a name stay separate. Nicknames like "Bigfoot" stay as posted until the player claims them.
• 14a. One registered alias per player. To be eligible for POY standings, a player registers with MN Poker Guide: their real name (kept private if they want) plus at most one display alias, used consistently, which must be unique and identify a single person. Results posted under an unregistered short or ambiguous alias (for example one or two letters like "E", "AT" or "JR") are held as provisional and don't score until a player claims them through registration and the room confirms. A player can't hold more than one alias, or merge results from multiple aliases, without the room confirming. Claim window: results lock 14 days after month end (the lock rule in rule 15), so claims must be made before then.
• 15. Corrections. Anyone can email us (address on the About page; a POY form is coming at launch) with the event, date, the name as posted, and the requested change. Proof is a link to the room's post, a payout slip, or confirmation from the room. We aim to fix things within 7 days and keep a public changelog on the page. Results become final 14 days after each month ends. After Jan 15, 2028, the year's results are locked.
• 16. Data limits and provisional results. If we only know the winner, only the winner scores. Other finishers are added when the room publishes the full results or a player sends proof. If the entry count is missing, the result shows as provisional, 0 points until we get the count from the room or the post. We don't estimate entries from prize pools.
• 17. Opt-out / privacy. Players can ask to appear as initials. We use only names the rooms have already made public.
• 18. Not affiliated. This is MN Poker Guide's own unofficial ranking, not run by either room. Prizes, if any, will be announced separately. We may change the rules before Jan 1, 2027. After that, any changes are announced and apply going forward only.

How to register

Registration opens before Jan 1, 2027. Details on how to register will be posted here and on the preview page. Until then, no registration is needed and nothing is scored.