The World Poker Tour (WPT) has named Harvey Castro, a 23-year-old college soccer star turned tournament regular, as its Season 23 Player of the Year.
With $411,320 in tour earnings across four cashes – including a victory in the $1,100 WPT Prime Lodge Championship for $225,020 – Castro distinguished himself throughout the season to claim the honor.
While the great bulk of Castro's 1,850 points came courtesy of his WPT Prime victory, a runner-up finish in the WPT Rolling Thunder Championship for $165,000 in March of 2025 set the foundation for his win. Kharlin Sued finished runner-up while 2025 WPT World Championship winnerSchuyler Thornton rounded out the podium places.
In an interview with PokerOrg conducted by Tom Morash back in August of 2023, Castro told us that there was, "definitely more poker to come" in the future for him.
As far as we can tell, he's held up his end of that promise. With a great deal of success already earned, Castro has positioned himself as an up-and-comer worth watching through the next few years. In 2025, Castro put up results across a number of tours, including the World Series of Poker Circuit, the PokerGO Tour, and the PokerAtlas Tour – making for a breakthrough year of sorts.
During his run at the WPT Prime Lodge Championship, Castro drew the ire of some in the community when he stepped into hot water with a verbal declaration that could have been interpreted in more than one way. PokerOrg spoke with JustinHammer to gain clarity on the matter – and cleared Castro of any intentional wrongdoing.
Castro joins hallowed company with the win as many greats of the game have done the same – including DanielNegreanu, Jonathan Little, Faraz Jaka, Chad Eveslage, and Bin Weng.
World Poker Tour Season 23 Player of the Year Top 10 Finishers
Rank
Player
Points
Earnings
Cashes
Final Tables
Titles
1
Harvey Castro
1,850
$411,320
4
1
0
2
Kharlin Sued
1,600
$576,400
4
2
1
3
Schuyler Thornton
1,575
$2,298,516
4
1
1
4
Mike Vanier
1,550
$423,200
5
1
1
5
Art Peacock
1,425
$806,500
2
1
1
6
Nico Betbese
1,400
$709,440
2
1
1
7
Kevin Nee
1,325
$620,200
3
0
0
8
Danny Wong
1,275
$341,780
4
1
0
9
Soheb Porbandarwala
1,250
$1,969,344
1
1
0
10
Aaron Johnson
1,200
$1,010,400
1
1
1
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