2012 POY Won By Greg Merson

Greg Merson has won the 2012 Card Player of the Year Award, after an incredible year in which he captured two WSOP bracelets, including the Main Event, to finish  2012 richer to the tune of $9,755,180.
Prior to 2012, the 24 year old from Maryland had won $96,377 from live tournaments, and a further $220,199 online playing under the screen name ‘gregy20723.’ However, 2012 proved a break-out year for Merson, and as he explains:
“You know, I didn’t get much attention when I was playing online, so it was hard to justify my decision to play poker for a living to my friends and relatives..This is validation to myself, showing all of those people who said I wouldn’t make it that they were wrong.”
At the beginning of the year, Merson initially cashed in two other WSOP events before going on his unstoppable run. These included  finishing 21st in the $3k Six Handed event for $16,850, and 5th in the $2,500 Four Handed event for $70,280.
However, Merson then captured 1,800 POY points, not to mention $1,136,197 for his victory at the  $10k Six Handed event, which subsequently catapulted him into 27th position on the POY leaderboard. A few days later. Merson entered the $10k Main Event and eventually made it through to the final table with the third biggest chip stack. After taking the title worth $8,527,982, Merson then earned a further 3,300 POY points due to the huge 6,598 field and large buy-in, to wrestle the title from Phil Hellmuth.
Previously, Greg Merson had publicly spoken about his past struggle with drug addiction and so after being sober for a whole year, Merson’s WSOP success took on a whole new dimension. As he explained following his Main Event victory:
“I’m just so lucky to even be alive. When I won [my first] bracelet I just started crying. To have a second chance at life and to do what I want to do — it’s amazing.”