Poker Central Power Rankings: Chidwick Rules & Dan Bilzerian Enters!?

Color me surprised when I received the ballots for this week’s Poker Central Power Rankings. Dan Bilzerian came out of nowhere to assert himself in the Top 10, raising my eyebrows about as high as humanly possible, but I’m going to try to make sense of it all right here!

Where do I start? Do I defend the fun and validity of these rankings? Do I roll with the punches? Do I advocate putting a system in place that sets up some boundaries and rules to get a specific formula in place that clearly specifies when and how you can rank someone?

The answer to that final questions is NO, and you can read my thoughts by scrolling down to Dan on the rankings. Can’t be bothered to keep reading? Listen to the hot takes on these rankings on the latest episode of the Poker Central Podcast.

The Week 6 Poker Central Power Rankings Top 10

Read up on the prior rankings: Week 3 – Week 4 – Week 5

	Last week	This week
Stephen Chidwick	18	1

The top spot this week, without question, belongs to Stephen Chidwick! The reigning U.S. Poker Open champion is making a strong case for his title defense by winning Event #1 and making three of the four final tables of this series so far. The rankings were submitted during Event #2 of the U.S Poker Open and if it was possible to give him more points he would’ve only extended his lead the later we would’ve done them.

Chidwick has now made eight of the 12 possible U.S. Poker Open final tables, a number so insane that even if he were to be the best player to have ever lived it doesn’t sound real. With a lead in the overall standings and many of his favorite events still to come – HELLO $25,000 Mixed Game – I would not bet one penny against him repeating as the champion and remaining in the top spot in this list for at least another two weeks.

	Last week	This week
Phil Galfond	2	2

Phil Galfond remains put at No.2 on the rankings after launching Run it Once Poker. Run it Once Poker is the first of its kind when it comes to trying to really innovate in the online poker space with a focus on the players. While other major operators have made strides in recent years – with others massively falling off and seemingly focused on their bottom line – Galfond has implemented the splash pot to much praise of its player base. The only side note I have for Phil is that he should be careful where he steals his jokes since I had basically this exact Tweet sitting in my drafts and ready to go!

On the Bubble

See ya later, Chino Rheem. After two weeks at No. 1 followed by a drop off to sixth place last week, Chino Rheem now sits in 13th place after a quiet few weeks. Joseph Cheong bubbled the Top 10 after finishing third in USPO Event #1 while Kristen Bicknell, Doyle Brunson, Bill Perkins, and Jordan Cristos also just missed out on the Top 10.

Tune in again next week for the latest Poker Central Power Rankings! Until then, listen to Brent Hanks and me discuss this week’s rankings on the Poker Central Podcast. Looking to watch the latest live and on-demand poker action? Subscribe to PokerGO right now.