I'm finding it very difficult to give away money!
Why? I have no idea.
One thought: maybe winning the money is too easy!
So, here's one that's difficult.
Put these 16 Game Of Gold participants in their correct finishing order.
That is, how they will finish in my currently running competition (see my other thread here or my thread on Blogs And Goals).
Now it's not so easy! Not like putting 16 random items in order because we know the skill level of these 16 but still not easy.
If any players tie you can have them in either order.
Payment is by PokerStars (if you have an account) or by Amazon Gift Certificate.
Entry price: $0
Entries close: Christmas (midnight on Dec. 24/25).
Why I do this: to make my competitions more fun. Entertainment value will be much more than the (possible) $1000 loss.

The Game Of Thrones entrants:

Daniel Negreanu
Jason Koon
Fedor Holz
Kevin Martin
Kyna England
Josh Arieh
Daniel Cates
Lukas Robinson
Nikita Luther
Charlie Carrel
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Olga Iermolcheva
David Williams
Andy Tsai
Michael Soyza
Maria Ho

Fedor Holz
Andy Tsai
Josh Arieh
Lukas Robinson
Kevin Martin
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Michael Soyza
Daniel Cates
Olga Iermolcheva
Kyna England
Nikita Luther
Charlie Carrel
Jason Koon
Maria Ho
David Williams
Daniel Negreanu

We have entry #1. Thanks filthy.
Daniel Negreanu at #16? I don't think you'll have to split this prize with anyone else!

kidpoker is total scum. couldn't look myself in the mirror if i didn't put him last

Sure, why not.

Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Jason Koon
Maria Ho
Kyna England
Kevin Martin
David Williams
Charlie Carrel
Fedor Holz
Daniel Negreanu
Andy Tsai
Olga Iermolcheva
Nikita Luther
Josh Arieh
Daniel Cates
Michael Soyza
Lukas Robinson

booker drawing dead

Nah, if I wanted to be drawing dead I would have put Elon Musk in there.

Jason Koon
Daniel Cates
Fedor Holz
Daniel Negreanu
Charlie Carrel
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Michael Soyza
David Williams
Maria Ho
Kevin Martin
Josh Arieh
Kyna England
Lukas Robinson
Nikita Luther
Olga Iermolcheva
Andy Tsai

Kyna England
Michael Soyza
Olga Iermolcheva
Fedor Holz
Charlie Carrel
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Nikita Luther
David Williams
Lukas Robinson
Andy Tsai
Daniel Cates
Kevin Martin
Josh Arieh
Daniel Negreanu
Maria Ho
Jason Koon

Why not

Fedor Holz
Lukas Robinson
Josh Arieh
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Andy Tsai
Jason Koon
Charlie Carrel
Maria Ho
Nikita Luther
Kevin Martin
Daniel Cates
Kyna England
David Williams
Daniel Negreanu
Olga Iermolcheva
Michael Soyza

yes! love the dnegs hate lol

Kyna England
Michael Soyza
Olga Iermolcheva
Fedor Holz
Charlie Carrel
Daniel Negreanu
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Nikita Luther
David Williams
Lukas Robinson
Andy Tsai
Daniel Cates
Kevin Martin
Josh Arieh
Maria Ho
Jason Koon

Daniel Cates
Daniel Negreanu
Jason Koon
Maria Ho
Josh Arieh
Charlie Carrel
David Williams
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Michael Soyza
Fedor Holz
Nikita Luther
Kevin Martin
Andy Tsai
Olga Iermolcheva
Lukas Robinson
Kyna England

There were 16 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Kyna England
David Williams
Olga Iermolcheva
Michael Soyza
Lukas Robinson
Fedor Holz
Maria Ho
Daniel Negreanu
Charlie Carrel
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert
Nikita Luther
Andy Tsai
Jason Koon
Daniel Cates
Josh Arieh
Kevin Martin
IP: 217.180.201.31
Timestamp: 2023-12-08 06:41:36 UTC

Lets go

(not to diminish your game here but I haven't followed poker regularly and only recognize 4-5 names, lets rand it and hope...)

Haha I randed too but I kept hitting the button until I somewhat liked the order and it took something like 45 rands

Before I set up this puzzle I hadn't looked at the player's HM.
Now that I have, it looks like this puzzle is a lot easier than I at first thought.
I think there are a bunch of these players who are going to end up tying for dead last!
And all tied players can be ranked in any order.
What a bunch of losers!
The toughest player to rank will be Daniel Cates. He just shows up here and there for no apparent reason (where the good cash games are?).

And now I look at the entries so far. My money is safe!
The most interesting entry is the one from chuckleslovakian. There are only 3 of the 16 that are already "on the board" in this competition.
Those 3 are at the top of chuckleslovakian's list. But he claims his list is random. Really?

I'm currently in Vegas so don't have my programs to calculate the rankings but with these 16 I can do it by hand.
Kyna England is currently #1 among these 16.

I doubt that these 16 will be playing on PokerStars any time soon as Game Of Gold was sponsered by GG Poker but I did find these two online names:

Lukas Robinson is lukas_robo
Kevin Martin is GarlicXToast

I think Fedor, Negreanu Carrel & Ho also have PokerStars online names.

I'll look into this more in case any of them do show up on PokerStars.

Fairly certain none are on BARGE!

Capsule scouting reports
First up: Kevin Martin.

LIVE: Pathetic. Small cashes at NLH only.
ONLINE: Used to be an ambassador for PokerStars? But Game Of Gold is GG sponsered so will he still be there? Sharkscope says he never played on PokerStars,
Not a member of BARGE. Confusing info.

Conclusion. May get "on the board" but will finish in the bottom 8.



After posting this I see his GG Poker patch in the photo. Now probably bottom 6.

Capsule scouting reports
Next up: Lukas Robinson.

LIVE: Not good. Only a few live results in 2023. Plays for higher stakes than Kevin Martin and in 2019 did cash a NLH/PLO combo.
ONLINE: Used to play on PokerStars but Game Of Gold is GG sponsered so will he still be there? Sharkscope says he never played on PokerStars,
Not a member of BARGE. Confusing info.

Conclusion. Almost a complete Kevin Martin clone. Just a wee bit better. Bottom 8.

I thought Kevin Martin was referring to the 14 year NBA Vet. I'd take NBA Kevin Martin over him.

Capsule scouting reports
Next up: Olga Iermolcheva.

LIVE: Lots of activity. 23 cashes this year. 6 at WSOP Las Vegas. Already "on the board" with 2 cashes at WPT in Florida.
ONLINE: Still plays on PokerStars as alfaromea.

Conclusion. Despite plenty of activity, only knows how to play 1 game. Will finish mid pack.

Capsule scouting reports
Next up: Jason Koon.

LIVE: Lots of activity but mostly at series that do not qualify here (Triton & PokerGo). Does play WSOP Las Vegas.
ONLINE: An American so PokerStars is out except BARGE and he's not gonna play there.

Conclusion. All depends on WSOP Las Vegas. Does know how to play PLO & Short Deck. Somewhere in the 4th thru 8th range

Capsule scouting reports
Next up: Michael Soyza.

LIVE: Lots of activity but mostly at series that do not qualify here. Did not cash in WSOP Vegas in 2023 but has in the past so he might be back.
ONLINE: Used to play on PokerStars but I don't see any recent activity.

Conclusion. A Jason Koon clone. All depends on WSOP Las Vegas. Does know how to play PLO & Short Deck. Mid range if he plays 2024 WSOP - otherwise dead last.

Capsule scouting reports
Next up: Josh Arieh.

LIVE: Has the same problem as Negreanu: doesn't play much outside of the WSOP. However, his WSOP results in the last few years have been outstanding.
ONLINE: An American not a BARGE member.

Conclusion. Top 4. With a WSOP like 2023 in 2024 he has a shot at #1.

Capsule scouting reports
Next up: Charlie Carrel.

LIVE: Since 2019 he has a grand total of just 3 tournament cashes.
ONLINE: Has a PokerStars account but was last seen on GG.

Conclusion. Has a very good chance to finish dead last.