WSOP Paradise Will Decide a 29-Point Player of the Year Race
Shaun Deeb, Naoya Kihara and Foxen are separated by less than 30 points as the global leaderboard reaches its Bahamas finale.
The World Series of Poker’s 2026 Player of the Year title will be settled at WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas in December, with Shaun Deeb holding a narrow lead over Naoya Kihara and the player identified in most coverage as Alex Foxen.
Deeb has 3,410 points, Kihara has 3,388 and Foxen has 3,381, leaving just 29 points across the leading three. The Bahamas series is the season finale of the annual poker calendar.
There is one discrepancy in the published standings. The official release names third-place player “William Foxen” on 3,381 points, while PokerNews and SpadePoker identify the player with that total as Alex Foxen. Alex Foxen’s 2026 summer results included 14 cashes and a $594,246 bracelet win in the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty.
This is the first year that Player of the Year points have been combined across the summer WSOP in Las Vegas, WSOP Europe and WSOP Paradise. The global format was announced on Dec. 16, 2025, with an enhanced scoring methodology intended to reward performance across the WSOP’s premier international stops.
The leaderboard carries a $1 million prize pool for the top 100 finishers. The top three, including the overall winner, each receive a $100,000 WSOP Paradise package; players in fourth through 15th receive $30,000 Super Main Event packages, with further packages and championship tickets extending through 100th place.
The champion will also receive the newly introduced Binion Cup. Deeb, the 2025 defending champion, is chasing his third Player of the Year title after wins in 2018 and 2025. That would surpass Daniel Negreanu’s two titles, won in 2004 and 2013.
Deeb’s Las Vegas series included six cashes, his ninth career bracelet, a runner-up finish, two other final tables and a deep Main Event run. His summer earnings totaled $956,086 including bounties, with a reported profit of $89,286 and a 10.3% return on investment before expenses.
Kihara is 22 points behind Deeb and has a chance to become Japan’s first WSOP Player of the Year. He made 16 summer cashes, won the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship and $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship back to back, and added two third-place and two seventh-place finishes. Those wins brought his career bracelet tally to three; he had become Japan’s first bracelet winner in 2012.
Foxen’s other reported summer highlights included sixth in the $100,000 High Roller for about $522,000, third in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship for $300,000 and seventh in the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller for about $268,000. As covered in August, Foxen was also leading the 2026 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race at that point.
The chasing group remains substantial, although well behind the leaders. Justin Liberto was fourth with 2,827 points, Joshua Arieh fifth with 2,750, Negreanu sixth with 2,698 and Jesse Lonis seventh with 2,674. Lucas Jumalon, the reigning WSOP Main Event champion, was 15th on 2,271 points.
Paradise also offers a separate $1 million WSOP Parlay promotion for players who made a 2026 live or online bracelet-event final table and compete in the Bahamas. Its $25,000 Super Main Event carries a $50 million guarantee, with online satellites available through GGPoker.
