
The 2014 poker season is off and betting, with players from around the world competing in the first tournaments of the year. Canada’s own Ami Barer is already one of the early winners of the season, becoming the first Canadian player in history to win the Aussie Millions No Limit Hold’em main event.
The victory shot Barer up to fifth place on the 2014 Player of the Year leaderboard standings. The ranking is important for the growth of poker in Canada, coming off the heels of poker superstar Daniel Negreanu being named player of the year at the end of the 2013 season.
But Barer is not the sole player representing Canada on the Player of the Year leaderboard. Mike McDonald, originally from Waterloo Ontario, is currently the player at the top of the leaderboard, a noteworthy extension of Canada’s unprecedented success in poker across 2013.
McDonald, whose nickname is Timex in the online poker community, was also at the Aussie Millions tournament. McDonald finished runner up in one event, and third place in another – accumulating over $1 million on both games, and enough points to claim the top of the leaderboard. His success in Australia followed up on finishing runner up in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event, where he also earned over $1 million for advancing so high.
While McDonald is on top, Dominik Panka is nipping at the Canadian’s heels. Panka is only 200 points behind McDonald, and 900 points ahead of Barer. However, McDonald has earned over $2.5 million more than Panka in the opening legs of the tour, while Barer trails the Polish player by approximately $300,000.
The Poker of the Year leaderboard symbolizes the depth of Canadian poker talent that should continue the Year of Canada in 2013.