4th Annual American Poker Awards Winners
The 4th Annual American Poker Awards, presented by PokerStars, will be presented on Thursday, February 22nd in Los Angeles. This year’s edition will be presented at the ultra-luxurious Andaz West Hollywood, steps away from some of the most legendary night clubs on the infamous Sunset Strip!
A record 20 awards are expected to be handed out as a grand total of 54 finalists will hope to head home with the most coveted awards in poker!
GPI American Player of the Year
Awarded to the 2017 American GPI PoY Ranking Leader
Presented to the player who scored the most points Global Poker Index (GPI) Points during the 2017 poker season. A player’s Top 13 qualifying GPI scores for events played starting between January 1 and December 31, 2017 are tabulated to determine total GPI Points for 2017.
| GPI PLAYER OF THE YEAR |
GPI Female Player of the Year
Awarded to the 2017 American GPI PoY Women’s Ranking Leader
Presented to the female poker player who scored the most points Global Poker Index (GPI) Points during the 2017 poker season. A player’s Top 13 qualifying GPI scores for events played starting between January 1 and December 31, 2017 are tabulated to determine total GPI Points for 2017.
| GPI FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR |
Poker Journalist of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel & Jury
Looking to place the spotlight on those who shine brightest in the poker journalism, this Award is presented to the person judged to have been a leader in their field during 2017.
The most talented poker journalists have the ability to connect poker fans with the poker world through articles, live reporting, and photography.
| POKER JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR |
| Drew Amato Lance Bradley – WINNER BJ Nemeth Steve Ruddock Jessica Welman |
Industry Person of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel & Jury
Presented to the casino employee, tournament staff member or tour operating worker deemed to have gone over and beyond for the game of poker during the 2017 poker season.
| INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE YEAR |
| Tony Burns Sean McCormack Adam Pliska Matt Savage – WINNER |
Breakout Player of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel & Jury
Presented to the player judged to have enjoyed a breakout campaign on the live tournament circuit in 2017. A player cannot have won a major poker title prior to 2017.
| BREAKOUT PLAYER OF THE YEAR |
| Dejuante “DJ” Alexander Michael Del Vecchio William Alex Foxen Artur Papazyan – WINNER |
Tournament Performance of the Year
Awarded by Nomination Vote & Jury
Awarded to the American player judged to have had the single best tournament performance on the worldwide live circuit during the 2017 poker season.
| TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR |
| Scott Blumstein (WSOP Main Event) – WINNER Darren Elias (WPT Fallsview) Bryn Kenney (PSC Monte Carlo Super High Roller) Doug Polk (WSOP One Drop High Roller) |
Mid-Major Circuit of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel & Jury
Presented to the organization who presented the best Mid-Major Circuit events and festivals during the 2017 poker season.
| MID-MAJOR CIRCUIT OF THE YEAR |
| Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) RUNGOOD Poker Series WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS) – WINNER World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) |
Event of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel & Jury
Presented to the event judged to have been the best single tournament event presented during the 2017 campaign.
| EVENT OF THE YEAR |
| Super High Roller Bowl (ARIA Las Vegas) partypoker MILLIONS North America (Playground Poker Club, Montreal) – WINNER Poker Masters Event #1 (ARIA Las Vegas) World Series of Poker Main Event (Rio Las Vegas) |
Charitable Initiative of the Year
Selected by the Global Poker Index Awards Committee
Presented to an individual, organization, venue, tournament or tournament series that raises awareness as well raise funds for a noteworthy charitable cause.
| CHARITABLE INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR RECIPIENT |
| Jacob Zalewski – One Step Closer Foundation |
Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poker
Selected by the Jury
Presented to the person judged to have devoted a significant portion of their life to poker; a person who has positively impacted the poker world. These accomplishments will be celebrated with the presentation of this special Award. This trophy is to be Awarded at the Jury’s discretion.
| AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN POKER RECIPIENT |
| Norman Chad, Lon McEachern |
Moment of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel & Jury
Each year poker produces extraordinary moments. From a historic victory to a jaw-dropping elimination and everything in between, this Award is presented to the person who created THE moment that will remain forever etched in every poker fan’s memory
| POKER MOMENT OF THE YEAR |
| 70-year-old John Smith makes back-to-back WSOP 10K Heads-Up finals Ema Zajmovic becomes first female player to win open event on World Poker Tour – WINNER Vanessa Selbst’s Full House loses to Gaelle Baumann’s Quads early in the WSOP Main Event Tom Dwan makes his return to America, stars on Poker After Dark reboot on PokerGo |
Poker Media Content of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel & Jury
Presented to the best poker article, blog post, book, picture or interview published by a journalist, industry member, blogger, player or media contributor during 2017.
| POKER MEDIA CONTENT OF THE YEAR |
| Adrian Moreno in tears after Little One for One Drop win; days after losing his friend (Drew Amato photo for WSOP.com) Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story (PokerCentral documentary) – WINNER Poker Brat: The Phil Hellmuth Story (Phil Hellmuth book published by D&B Publishing) Resilience Defined: Sheddy Siddiqui raising his two boys #FORCATHY (Lance Bradley article for PocketFives) |
Poker Streamer of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel and Jury
Presented to the most dedicated poker streamer who continued to provide quality entertainment to their most dedicated fans while attracting and educating the most novice of players.
| POKER STREAMER OF THE YEAR |
| Jeff Gross Bill Perkins Jason Somerville Jaime Staples – WINNER Parker Talbot |
Poker Broadcaster of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel and Jury
Presented to the best poker broadcaster in the business.
| BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR |
| Nick Schulman – WINNER Joseph Stapleton Lon McEachern Ali Nejad |
Video Blogger of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel and Jury
Presented to the “vlogger” who not only releases quality, well-produced, content but must also show the ability to connect with the audience
| VIDEO BLOGGER OF THE YEAR |
| Joe Ingram Daniel Negreanu Andrew Neeme – WINNER Doug Polk |
Poker Podcast of the Year
Selected by Nomination Panel & Jury
Presented to the podcast series judged to be the best for 2017. Nomination Panel and Jury members should focus on overall quality and frequency of published episodes
| POKER PODCAST OF THE YEAR |
| PokerCentral Podcast (Brent Hanks, Will O’Connor, Remko Rinkema) – WINNER PokerNews Podcast (Brent Harrington, Sarah Herring, Matt Parvis) Poker Life Podcast (Joe Ingram) TwoPlusTwo Podcast (Terrence Chan, Ross Henry, Adam Schwartz) |
PocketFives Legacy Award
Selected by PocketFives and GPI teams
Presented to an online poker legend who has also made significant contributions on the live tournament circuit.
| POCKETFIVES LEGACY AWARD RECIPIENT |
| Ari Engel |
Biggest Influencer in Poker
Selected by Nomination Panel and Jury
Presented to the individual who moves the needle most in the poker world. Whether it’s a player, an industry member or even a celebrity, this Award winner is judged to have been one of the biggest influencers in the game in 2017.
| BIGGEST INFLUENCER IN POKER |
| Cary Katz – WINNER Daniel Negreanu Doug Polk Matt Savage |
Jury Prize
Selected by the Jury
A special Award may be presented by the members of the Jury to a person, group or organization who deserve special recognition for their contributions to poker in 2017.
| JURY PRIZE RECIPIENT |
| Eric Danis |
People’s Choice Award for Poker Personality of the Year
Voted by poker fans around the world
Presented to the poker personality judged to have been one of the game’s best ambassadors in 2017, making a positive impact in the poker world while engaging his or her audience.
Poker fans will determine the winner of this Award. This Award isn’t a simple popularity vote; the winner should be someone who works hard on and/or off the felt; someone who promotes the game of poker
| POKER PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR |
| Jonathan Little Andrew Neeme – WINNER Daniel Negreanu Doug Polk |
If you have any inquiries regarding the GPI American Poker Conference and/ or Awards please don’t hesitate to email us at: awards@mediarex.com