Trophies galore

On February 24, the 5th GPI Global Poker Awards will be broadcast live on PokerGO from the PokerGO studio at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. At least 26 awards in total will be given out on the night, 16 of which were chosen by the voting panel members and four of which were chosen by the fans. 

The winners in four categories are already known. Bin Weng will be presented with the GPI Poker Player of Year trophy, Kristen Foxen took down the GPI Female Player of the Year award for a fourth time, Nick Pupillo will collect the Mid-Major PoY title, and GGPoker’s ‘Game of Gold’ show  has earned the GPI Award of Merit. 

there will be surprises too as other trophies are bestowed upon deserving members of the community

As is the norm at the Global Poker Awards, there will be surprises too as other trophies are bestowed upon deserving members of the community. These include The Hendon Mob Award and the Charitable/Community Initiative. It is unknown whether Poker Icon, won previously by Gabe Kaplan, Mike Sexton, and Johnny Chan will be awarded. 

Comesky and Spragg lead the way 

Last year’s Rising Star in Content Creation award recipient Caitlin Comeskey leads the way this year with three nominations. She is up for Best Short-Form Content Creator, Best Video Content, and Best Twitter Personality. Standing in her way in all three of those categories is Marle Spragg. New kid on the block Alexander Seibt “Wolfgang Poker,” is also nominated for three awards – Best Short-Form Content Creator Category, Best Vlogger, and Best Poker Personality. 

It is no surprise that the World Poker Tour (WPT) is well represented, nominated in four industry categories with three more nominations going to members of their team – Adam Pliska, Matt Savage, and David Hill – and one more going to their champion Daniel Seipol. The Irish Poker Open (IPO) is nominated in two categories – Best Event and Best Stand Alone Poker Festival. 

I shall be breaking down the awards into three umbrella categories

To whet the appetite for the Global Poker Awards and as has become customary at this time of year, I shall be breaking down the awards into three umbrella categories and giving my picks across a trilogy of articles including this one. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the Global Poker Award nominees that honor the efforts of the players.

PLAYERS’ CHOICE FOR TOUGHEST OPPONENT

This category was voted on by the top 100 players on the GPI as of January 3, 2024

• Stephen Chidwick
• Alex Foxen
• Isaac Haxton
• Jason Koon

Any one of these four titans would be a worthy winner of this prize. In 2023, Jason Koon won a staggering six Triton titles and had his biggest ever year, adding $13.4m to his live career earnings. Alex Foxen?won $4.1m, brining his career earnings to more than $30m. Last year’s winner of this accolade, Stephen Chidwick, was consistent as usual, adding almost $10m to his ‘Hendon Mob’ stats with 17 top three finishes including five victories. ?

My pick, however, has got to be Isaac Haxton who had a standout year in what is one of the great poker careers. He cashed for almost $17m with wins in the PokerGO Tour Super Highroller, at the US Poker Open and PokerGo Cup, two Super-Highroller victories at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), an European Poker Tour (EPT) Highroller title in Monaco, and a bracelet in the $25,000 Highroller event. 

BEST FINAL TABLE PERFORMANCE

• Padraig O’Neill, EPT Prague
• Erik Seidel, WSOP Paradise Super High Roller
• Daniel Sepiol, WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas
• Daniel Weinman, WSOP Main Event

Not all victories are equal. Some are on the biggest stages and some play out in ways that challenge different skill sets. Dan Weinman won the biggest tournament of all time and his performance was out of top drawer. Daniel Seipol pulled the trigger on a huge bluff versus Andrew Lichtenberger to get his engines started on what ended up being an epic WPT World Championship final table. Erik Seidel is a legend of the game and at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Bahamas, he proved once again why he has stayed at the top across five decades.?

remarkable mental fortitude and composure to close out a famous victory

Looking at this category closely, however, I think it should reward not just the status of the win but also the way that the final table played out. The EPT Prague is one of Europe’s biggest tournaments and Padraig O’Neill’s final table performance tested his abilities in every way that you can be tested in the endgame of a tournament. He had to be ICM-aware as the short-stack. He had to play all the stack-sizes as he climbed up the ladder. He made and called some huge bluffs. Having got the lead, he was dragged back and had to dig deep, showing remarkable mental fortitude and composure to close out a famous victory.   

GPI BREAKOUT PLAYER

• Jans Arends
• William Kopp
• Samuel Laskowitz
• Santosh Suvarna

Samuel Laskowitz’s name could not be found on The Hendon Mob prior to 2022. In 2023, he notched up a cool $1m in live winnings thanks to victories in the Borgata Mystery Bounty and the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Highroller, a runner-up finish in the Wynn Fall Mystery Bounty and three PokerGO Tour final tables. William Kopp similarly broke out last year also winning seven figures on the live circuit, the highlights being a WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better and a WSOP circuit ring in the North Carolina Main Event. Santosh Suvarna took his game to the Triton circuit in a big way in 2023, making an incredible seven final tables including a victory in a 25K in North Cyprus. He cashed for a whopping $6m total, also winning a bracelet in the $50,000 Highroller at the WSOPE.?

Arends won over $5m in 2023 including a win and a second place in Triton events

My hunch, however, is that this prize will go to Dutchman Jans Arends whose break out on the live circuit was as predictable as the answer to the question: ‘How would you like your steak cooked Mr Kessler?’ Graftekkel has struck fear into the hearts of his online opponents for over a decade so it’s no surprise that he would crush live too if he so chose. Arends won over $5m in 2023 including a win and a second place in Triton events and a win and a third in the WSOP $100,000 Super Highroller and $50,000 Highroller respectively. 

FANS’ CHOICE: BEST HAND

• Bill Perkins goes ALL-IN, but he’s late for a flight on Poker at the Lodge
• Craziest Pre-Flop Action of ALL-TIME at Triton Poker Series London
• Dwan vs Polk in 1.13M Pot in Million Dollar Game on Hustler Casino Live
• Dwan vs Wesley in the biggest pot in televised poker history on Hustler Casino Live

The fan-voted categories are a bit of fun and I think this one will be given to the record-breaking ‘Dwan vs Wesley’ hand from the Million Dollar Hustler livestream. I wrote about this hand when it happened, juxtaposing it next to the then record-breaking ‘Dwan vs Greenstein’ pot from the fifth season of High Stakes Poker.? Next week in Part 2, I will look at the nominations for content creators.?