Global Poker Awards Nominees Finalized; Ceremony Set for Feb. 18 on PokerGO
Global Poker Index/Hendon Mob recently announced the final nominations for the Global Poker Awards. The annual ceremony is set for Feb. 18 at Aria casino in Las Vegas and recognizes some of the best in the poker industry.
PokerGO will stream the festivities with names Jaime Kerstetter, Jeff Platt, Doug Polk, and Joe Stapleton headlining the nominees.
What to expect
Preliminary voting for the awards closed on Jan. 10 with lists of finalists sent out to various voting panels. This group trimmed that list to the final nominees.
Kerstetter is once again nominated for Twitter Personality after winning the award last year. She’s also nominated for Best Broadcaster along with Platt, who is also nominated for video content.
Polk and Stapleton are both nominees in the podcast category. Polk is also nominated in the Fans Choice: Best Hand category for his epic High Stakes Poker fold against Phil Hellmuth. Stapleton also joins Kerstetter and Platt on the Best Broadcaster list.
The GPI will give out 26 awards, including the 2021 GPI Player of the Year and PokerGO Tour Player of the Year to Ali Imsirovic. He could also add a third trophy in the Players Choice category.
Nadya Magnus also earns the Female Player of the Year and the inaugural Mid-Major POY goes to David Mzareulov. Other awards include Poker Icon, Best Streamer, and Best Vlogger.
A total of 13 countries are represented on this year’s nomination list. Masato Yokosawa becomes the first Japanese-born person to be nominated for a Global Poker Award.
A look at the nominations
As the Global Poker Awards approach, here’s a look at all the nominees.
BEST FINAL TABLE PERFORMANCE
- Koray Aldemir (Germany), WSOP Main Event
- Jeremy Ausmus (USA), WSOP PLO High Roller
- Daniel “Jungleman” Cates (USA), WSOP 50K Poker Players Championship
- Adam Friedman (USA), WSOP 10K Dealer’s Choice 6-Max Championship
GPI BREAKOUT PLAYER
- Christopher Brewer (USA)
- Kyna England (USA)
- Johan Guilbert (France)
- Vanessa Kade (Canada)
PLAYERS CHOICE FOR TOUGHEST OPPONENT
- Michael Addamo (Australia)
- Stephen Chidwick (England)
- Ali Imsirovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- David Peters (USA)
TWITTER PERSONALITY
- Will Jaffe (USA)
- Jamie Kerstetter (USA)
- Kitty Kuo (Taiwan)
- Kevin Mathers (USA)
BEST STREAMER
- Kevin Martin “kevinmartin” (Canada)
- Benjamin Spragg “Spraggy” (England)
- Jonathan Van Fleet “apestylespoker” (USA)
- Lex Veldhuis “LexVeldhuis” (Netherlands)
BEST VLOGGER
- Jaman Burton (USA)
- Ryan Depaulo (USA)
- Brad Owen (USA)
- Ethan “Rampage” Yau (USA)
BEST INDUSTRY PERSON
- Tony Burns (USA)
- Jack Effel (USA)
- Mori Eskandani (Iran/USA)
- Matt Savage (USA)
BEST TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR
- Paul Campbell (USA)
- Justin Hammer (USA)
- Ray Pulford (USA)
- Andy Tillman (USA)
BEST EVENT
- Seminole Hard Rock Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Opening Event
- World Series of Poker Main Event
- Wynn Mystery Bounty (Summer 2021)
- Wynn Millions
BEST PODCAST
- Poker in the Ears (James Hartigan (England), Joe Stapleton (USA) for PokerStars)
- The Chip Race Poker Podcast (David Lappin (Ireland), Dara O’Kearney (Ireland) for Unibet Poker)
- The Doug Polk Podcast (Doug Polk USA)
- The Heart of Poker (Kara Scott Canada)
BEST BROADCASTER
- Jamie Kerstetter (USA)
- Ali Nejad (USA)
- Jeff Platt (USA)
- Joe Stapleton (USA)
BEST LIVE REPORTER
- Mickey Doft (USA)
- Timothy Duckworth (Australia)
- Chad Holloway (USA)
- Christian Zetszche (Germany)
BEST MEDIA CONTENT: WRITTEN
- Lance Bradley (Canada) for PocketFives: Isai Scheinberg: His Company, His Legacy, and How Black Friday Impacted Both
- Alex O’Brien (Germany) for BBC: How a $10k poker win changed how I think
- D’Arcy Maine (USA) for ESPN.com: While battling brain cancer, Michael Graydon lives World Series of Poker dream
- Charles Rabin (USA) for Miami Herald: From immigration ‘cage’ to newest poker champ at Hard Rock. An Afghan refugee’s luck turns
BEST MEDIA CONTENT: PHOTO
- Antonio Abrego (USA) for PokerGO: Adam Friedman defeats Phil Hellmuth for 3rd straight WSOP 10K Dealers Choice title
- Hayley Hochstetler (USA): The End of an Era
- Enrique Malfavon (USA) for PokerGO: The WSOP Main Event Bubble Bursts
- Danny Maxwell (Ireland) for PokerNews/WSOP: Brandon Shack-Harris and his umbrella at WSOP
BEST MEDIA CONTENT: VIDEO
- Paul Graydon and Andrew Neeme (USA): The Villain Who Stole Christmas
- Last Call Pokeridokumentii (Finland)
- Jeff Platt (USA) for PokerGO: “Stand Up for Me, Please!”
- Remko Rinkema (Netherlands) for PokerGO: Run it Back with Stefanie Ungar
- Run It Once: Meet The Jungleman
FANS CHOICE: BEST HAND
- Daniel “Jungleman” Cates (USA) gets Leng to fold in WSOP $50,000 PPC
- Doug Polk (USA) makes epic fold vs. Phil Hellmuth on High Stakes Poker
- Nicholas Rigby (USA) pulls monster bluff during late stages of WSOP Main Event
- Quads over Quads on Day 3 of the WSOP Main Event (Chang Liu vs Ugur Secilmis)
FANS CHOICE: BEST TROPHY
- Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup
- MSPT South Dakota State Championship
- Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship
- WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast
FANS CHOICE: POKER PERSONALITY
- Johan “YoH ViraL” Guilbert (France)
- Greg “Greg Goes All In” Liow (Canada)
- Jonathan Little (USA)
- Masato Yokosawa (Japan)