Poker's Night in the Spotlight: The Winners of the American Poker Awards Poker's Night in the Spotlight: The Winners of the American Poker Awards

The 2nd Annual Global Poker Index American Poker Awards took place Thursday evening at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills California where both industry members and players took time out to celebrate accomplishments in the game of poker.

A jury panel of nine asteemed poker dignitaries voted on the awards. The panel consisted of Brad Willis, PokerStars Head of Blogging; Craig Lumpp, Belliagio Director of Poker Operations; Donnie Peters, Editor in Chief at PokerNews; Eric Danis, Head of Poker Content for the Global Poker Index; Faraz Jaka, poker player and San Francisco Rush Team Manager; Lance Bradley, PocketFives.com President and Editor in Chief; Maria Ho, poker player and Los Angeles Sunset Team Manager; Scott Ball, Twitch Community Development and Poker Manager and Alex Dreyfus, CEO of Global Poker Index.

The first award of the Night honored The GPI Female Player of the Year for play ending on December 31, 2015, and the award went to Kelly Minkin.

Next up was the award for the GPI American Player of the Year went to Byron Kaverman for compiling the most GPI points on the worldwide live poker tournament circuit during the 2015 season.

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • Joshua Beckley
  • Asher Conniff
  • Cate Hall
  • Kelly Minkin

Winner: Joshua Beckley

EVENT OF THE YEAR (BUY-IN UP TO $2,000)

Nominees:

  • WSOP The Colossus, Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
  • WPT500 at ARIA, Las Vegas
  • WSOP Millionaire Maker, Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
  • WPTDeepStacks — DSPT Championship, Grey Eagle Resort & Casino, Calgary

Winner: WSOP The Colossus, Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas

TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • Jonathan Duhamel, WSOP One Drop High Roller
  • Mike Gorodinsky, WSOP Poker Players’ Championship
  • Joseph McKeehen, WSOP Main Event
  • Anthony Zinno, WPT L.A. Poker Classic

Winner: Anthony Zinno

MEDIA PERSON OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • Joey Ingram
  • Kevin Mathers
  • Donnie Peters
  • Jason Somerville

Winner: Donnie Peters

POKER INNOVATION OR INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • Poker Central launches 24/7 television network
  • SHRPO (in conjunction with PNIA) livestreams four FT’s in same room/at same time
  • WSOP adds online bracelet event (with live final table)
  • WSOP introduces ‘The Colossus’

Winner: WSOP adds online bracelet event (with live final table)

EVENT OF THE YEAR (BUY-IN OVER $2,000)

Nominees:

  • Super High Roller Bowl, ARIA, Las Vegas
  • WSOP Main Event, Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
  • WSOP One Drop High Roller, Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
  • WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, Hollywood, FL

Winner: WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, Hollywood, FL

MEDIA CONTENT OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • BUST, an Insider’s Account of Greenville’s Underground Poker Scene (Brad Willis)
  • Faraz Jaka Homeless Poker Millionaire, CNN Money (Jaka, Gayles, Carson)
  • Jason Somerville’s record Twitch Broadcast during WCOOP in September 2015
  • Joe Giron shoots photo of Negreanu crumbled on the floor after ME elimination

Winner: Joe Giron shoots photo of Negreanu crumbled on the floor after ME elimination

POKER PRESENTER OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • Sarah Herring
  • Kara Scott
  • Joseph Stapleton
  • David Tuchman

Winner: Kara Scott

CHARITABLE INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • Chad Brown Memorial Tournament (Maria Ho, Vanessa Rousso)
  • Charity Series of Poker (Matthew Stout)
  • Tiger’s Poker Night (hosted by Tiger Woods, WPT Foundation)
  • WSOP One Drop High Roller / Litte One for One Drop

Winner: Charity Series of Poker (Matthew Stout)

INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • Jack Effel, WSOP Vice President and Tournament Director
  • William Mason, Seminole Hard Rock Director of Poker
  • John Pappas, Poker Players Alliance Executive Director
  • Matt Savage, TDA Founder, WPT Executive Director

Winner: Matt Savage, TDA Founder, WPT Executive Director

POKER MOMENT OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

  • Anthony Zinno goes back-to-back winning WPT Fallsview, WPT L.A. Poker Classic
  • Over 22,000 players enter WSOP Colossus for chance at a gold bracelet
  • Phil Hellmuth wins bracelet #14 — WSOP 10K Razz Championship
  • Daniel Negreanu busts 11th in the WSOP Main Event

Winner: Daniel Negreanu busts 11th in the WSOP Main Event

Jury Award for Service to the Game of Poker

Winner: Kevin Mathers

Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: Mike Sexton

The entire awards ceremony can be viewed on the GPL Twitch channel.