Inaugural American Poker Awards A Huge Success

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Monday, March 2nd, 2015 | Written by Adam Brown

Global Poker Index CEO Alex Dreyfus is on a mission to sportify poker, and part of his vision for the game’s future includes organizing the American Poker Awards, which he had previously described as “an investment for the future of poker, and the further legitimacy of the GPI.” On Friday night, the inaugural American Poker Awards then finally took place at the SLS Beverly Hills, and the Kara Scott hosted ceremony proved to be a hugely successful affair honoring North America’s very best players and industry workers.

GPI Player Awards

Daniel Colman: GPI Player of the Year (4,141.91 points)

Away from the tables, Daniel Colman sparked a media frenzy in 2014 after voicing his outspoken views on the game, including commenting that poker was a “dark game” in which “the losers lose way more money at this game than winners are winning”. Fortunately, the GPI Player of the Year awards the players actions and not his words, and so the controversial pro received the 2014 Poker Player of the Year award following an unprecedented run in the history of tournament poker, which saw him amass $22,389,481 last year, including winning the Big One for One Drop event for $15,306,668. However, Colman failed to capture awards in the two other categories he was nominated for (Breakout Performance and Tournament Performance of the Year), and also failed to attend the actual ceremony itself.

Vanessa Selbst: GPI Female Player of the Year (2,431.88 points)

Vanessa Selbst has been the best female poker player for some time now, and one glace at the ‘Women’s All Time Money List’ will see her at number one with $10,614,397 in earnings, followed a long way back by Kathy Liebert ($6,014,905), Annie Duke ($4,270,548), and Annette Obrestad ($3,919,291). Last year, Selbst then captured the $25,000 NL Mixed Max for $871,148, and earned $2,369,550 throughout 2014 to gain 2,431.88 GPI points and the Female Player of the Year award.

Brandon Shack-Harris: Breakout Player of the Year

In 2014, Brandon Shack-Harris cashed in ten poker tournaments for $1,450,103, with no less than five WSOP final table appearances, including victory at the WSOP $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha event for $205,634.

Mark Newhouse: Tournament Performance of the Year

Despite becoming the first player to be eliminated from the 2014 WSOP Main Event, Newhouse’s 9th place exit for $730,725 followed a 9th place finish in the same event in 2013, in so doing becoming the first November Niner in history to make two consecutive final tables.

Daniel Negreanu: Poker’s Best Ambassador

This category was voted for by the public, and Canadian superstar Daniel Negreanu proved a popular choice for the GPI’s inaugural ambassador, after a tireless year in which he continued to represent the game in the best light both on and off the tables. Negreanu also finished 2nd to Colman in the Big One for One Drop for $8,288,001, but unlike Colman who took off soon after the win, Negreanu stuck around for a long time after answering the media’s questions and posing for photos.

GPI Industry Awards

Chris Grove was named the Media Person of the Year for outstanding reporting connecting fans of the game with the poker world, while PokerStars blogger Brad Willis won the Poker Media Content of the Year award for his “WSOP 2014: Stages/Never stop fighting” focusing on Vanessa Pacella, a WSOP ME debutant suffering from Stage 4 breast cancer. WPT president Adam Pliska was also named the Industry Person of the Year for his contributions towards promoting and developing the industry.

Other industry awards included the WSOP Main Event and the WSOP Monster Stack winning Events of the Year, Twitch Opens Its Doors to Live Streaming Poker winning the Poker Innovation or Initiative of the Year award, and the “All In” for Kids Poker Tournament which collected $910,000 being named the Charitable Initiative of the Year.

A Huge Success

Commenting on the inaugural American Poker Awards, Global Poker Index CEO Alex Dreyfus said: “Honestly, we had a blast and I really hope that it will set a precedent in our ‘old game but young industry. Next year it will be live streamed, I promise.”

Meanwhile, American sportswriter and columnist Norman Chad had a few suggestions for future ceremonies, and later tweeted:

“American Poker Awards gave its first lifetime achievement honor to a lawyer. That’s like a Grammy Award going to a forensic pathologist.. If Doyle Brunson can put up a few more years of good results, he should be considered for American Poker Awards’ lifetime achievement honor.”

GPI AMERICAN POKER AWARDS

GPI Poker Player of the Year: Daniel Colman
GPI Female Player of the Year: Vanessa Selbst
Media Person of the Year: Chris Grove
Industry Person of the Year: Adam Pliska (World Poker Tour)
Breakout Player of the Year: Brandon Shack-Harris
Tournament Performance of the Year: Mark Newhouse
Event of the Year (over $2,000): WSOP Main Event
Event of the Year (up to $2,000): WSOP Monster Stack
Poker Innovation or Initiative of the Year: Twitch Opens its Doors to Poker
Charitable Initiative of the Year: “All In” for Kids
Poker Media Content of the Year: Brad Willis
Poker’s Best Ambassador: Daniel Negreanu
Lifetime Acheivemnt in Poker: Steve Lipscomb