Highlights from 4th Annual American Poker Awards

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Wednesday, February 28th, 2018 | Written by Stephen Smith

Last Thursday, the 4th Annual American Poker Awards was held at the Andaz West Hollywood Hotel situated along Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, with accolades awarded across twenty different categories. The PokerStars sponsored ceremony was created by Global Poker Index (GPI) owner Alexandre Dreyfus, and each year recognizes the achievements of influential people working within the poker industry, in addition to the players themselves.

Voting System

The finalists in each category were determined by a balloting process in which 102 members of the media, poker playing fraternity and industry insiders nominated no more than two people in each class. The ballot boxes were subsequently sent to a special jury headed by Eric Danis, the GPI Head of Poker Content, which then organized a list of finalists before selecting a winner in each category.

That said, the Player of the Year and Female Player of the Year accolades were based upon GPI points allocated throughout the year, meaning everyone knew who its winners would be ahead of the gala evening, namely Bryn Kenney and Kristen Bicknell

GPI Player Awards

Bryn Kenney collected the 2017 GPI American Player of the Year award after a spectacular year in which he won a huge $8,505,897 in tournament winnings. The 31 year-old pro also managed to capture five titles throughout the season, including winning the PCA $50k Event for $969,075, the PCA $25,500 Shot Clock Event for $392,876, the Aria Super High Roller for $300,000, the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Super High Roller for €1,784,500 ($1,946,911), and the Poker Masters $50k Event for $960,000.

Kristen Bicknell was named the GPI Female Player of the Year title after the Canadian pro amassed $551,906 in earnings, including making the money in seven WSOP events, and winning the $5,200 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas for $199,840.

Other Players Honored

Amongst the other players nominated and picking up honors at the American Poker Awards was last year’s WSOP Main Event winner Scott Blumstein (Tournament Performance of the Year), and Artur Papazyan (Breakout Player) for capturing two WPT titles, including the WPT Maryland Live Main Event for $389,405, and the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event for $668,692.

Also awarded a trophy was Ema Zajmovic (Moment of the Year), who in 2017 made history after becoming the first female player to win an open WPT event, in this case the WPT Playground Main Event for $183,789. Finally, Ari Engel collected the PocketFives Legacy Award, with the player having earned a total of $5,436,961 playing live tournaments since 2006, as well as countless millions online.

Industry Awards

Meanwhile, tournament director Matt Savage (photo) was named the Industry Person of the Year, having already collected the title at the 2nd Annual American Poker Awards. Thanking the judges and the poker community as a whole for the honor, Savage posted the following message on his Facebook page:

“I was shocked to win the American Poker Awards Industry Person of the Year against friends and colleagues Adam Pliska, Sean McCormack, and Tony J Burns. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful supportive wife Maryann Portugal Savage and amazing kids Rizaann Foronda and Marko that make this possible. Thank you to the nomination voters and jury panel for the recognition, I really am honored and humbled.”

Meanwhile, Cary Katz beat Daniel Negreanu, Doug Polk and Matt Savage to become the Biggest Influencer in Poker, while Andrew Neeme further bested Negreanu and Polk to claim the Video Blogger of the Year. Neeme also picked up a second trophy at the ceremony, namely the People’s Choice Award for Poker Personality of the Year

In addition, Lance Bradley was honored as the Poker Journalist of the Year, with the writer acknowledged for his excellent articles, reporting, and photography; Jaime Staples became the Poker Streamer of the Year, not least for his tireless live Twitch streams; Nick Schulman was presented with the Poker Broadcaster of the Year honor; and Eric Danis collected the Jury Prize in special recognition of the contributions he made to the poker world in 2017.

In terms of the events themselves, the partypoker MILLIONS North America won the 2017 Event of the Year title, and the WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS) was named the Mid-Major Circuit of the Year. Finally, One Step Closer Foundation was named the Charitable Initiative of the Year for the significant funds it raised for noteworthy cause; while Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story (PokerCentral documentary) collected last year’s Poker Media Content of the Year award.