Global Poker Awards Finalist Revealed and Stirs Controversy

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Last week, the finalists for the Global Poker Awards were announced. According to a press release sent by the Global Poker Index, a panel of 130 members voted to determine the list of finalists in 13 different categories.

The event combines the former American Poker Awards and the European Poker Awards under one banner. While most of the awards presented will be given out based on a vote, some awards like the GPI Player of the Year and GPI Female Player of the Year are awarded based on performance.

Awards Slammed For Snubs And Awkward Process

The list of the finalists in each category is listed below but two areas garnering the most complaints were the Vlogger of the Year and Streamer of the Year. Interestingly enough, Jason Somerville is listed in the Streamer category and he hasn’t even posted in the last year. Also, the categories are lacking recognition of other notable vloggers and streamers and appear to be more of a popularity contest.

Donnie Peters of PocketFives.com also wrote an op-ed giving suggestions on how to improve the product ranging from improvements to their nomination process to choosing better categories and starting the process earlier.

The Global Poker Index issued the following statement over the controversy of the awards:

Statement regarding the Global Poker Awards pic.twitter.com/ykZZssfsjC

— Global Poker Index (@gpi) March 20, 2019

Awards Show or Popularity Contest?

Looking at the nominees, one thing that stands out is that it is very heavy with people involved with PokerStars and Poker Central. There also seems to be more of a popularity slant to some of these nominees over those that are truly deserving.

In the past, the American Poker Awards was bashed for being too much of a glad-handing show with the popular and noteworthy just patting each other on the back. Some well-deserving people in the industry seemed to be on the outside looking in unless they were well connected.

Not saying that it’s much of the same, but it sure appears that the process could be improved similarly to what Donnie Peters recommends. The fact that Jason Somerville is a finalist for streaming is a prime example showing that either people in this process have no clue, or don’t really care about what’s going on.

Of course, chances are that the show will go down and people around the industry will praise the GPI and the show. Maybe we will get some viable changes for next year. Or maybe we will get much of the same with a bit of sugar coating to help us swallow it better.

The list of the finalists are below:

TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE

• Justin Bonomo (Super High Roller Bowl IV)
• John Cynn (WSOP Main Event)
• Maria Lampropulos (PCA Main Event)
• Dylan Linde (WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic)

BREAKOUT PLAYER

• Almedin “Ali” Imsirovic
• Maria Konnikova
• Ping Liu
• Christopher Michael Soyza

STREAMER OF THE YEAR

• Jeff Gross
• Jason Somerville
• Jaime Staples
• Lex Veldhuis

VLOGGER OF THE YEAR

• Marle Cordeiro
• Joe Ingram
• Andrew Neeme
• Daniel Negreanu
• Doug Polk

PODCAST

• LFG Podcast (Chad Holloway, Jamie Kerstetter)
• PokerCentral Podcast (Brent Hanks, Remko Rinkema)
• PokerNews Podcast (Sarah Herring, Jeff Platt)
• The Chip Race Poker Podcast (David Lappin, Dara O’Kearney)
• The Fives a PocketFives.com Podcast (Lance Bradley, Donnie Peters)

BROADCASTER

• Maria Ho
• Lon McEachern
• Nick Schulman
• Lex Veldhuis

POKER JOURNALIST

• Drew Amato
• Sarah Herring
• Remko Rinkema
• Christian Zetsche

MEDIA CONTENT

• Drew Amato (photo: Brunson bids farewell to WSOP)
• Lance Bradley (book: The Pursuit of Poker Success)
• Haley Hintze (article: Vayo v. PokerStars)
• PokerCentral/GO (Super High Roller Club: Schulman featuring Nejad)

INDUSTRY PERSON

• Angelica Hael (World Poker Tour)
• Cary Katz (Poker Central)
• Matt Savage (WPT, TDA, more)
• Ty Stewart (World Series of Poker)
• Rob Yong (Dusk Till Dawn, partypoker)

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

• Tony Burns (Seminole Hard Rock)
• Paul Campbell (ARIA)
• Jack Effel (WSOP)
• Kenny Halleart (Unibet Open)

MID-MAJOR TOUR/CIRCUIT

• 888poker Live
• RUNGOOD Poker Series
• Unibet Open
• WPTDeepStacks
• WSOP Circuit

EVENT OF THE YEAR

• partypoker Caribbean Poker Party Main Event
• Super High Roller Bowl IV
• WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic
• WSOP Main Event

MOMENT OF THE YEAR

• Jeremy Hilsercop receives PSPC Platinum Pass (with help from Joe Ingram, Arlie Shaban, PokerStars and the poker community) as video of wife gifting him trip to WSOP on Christmas day goes viral
• Joe Cada wins WSOP The Closer; registering for the event moments after remarkable 5th place finish in WSOP Main Event
• Doyle Brunson plays his final WSOP event
• Justin Bonomo wins Big One for One Drop, completing Super High Roller Streak (SHRBChina, SHRBIV, One Drop)

OTHER TROPHIES TO BE PRESENTED AT THE GLOBAL POKER AWARDS:

• 2018 GPI Poker Player of the Year (Alex Foxen)
• 2018 GPI Female Player of the Year (Kristen Bicknell)
• Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poker
• Charitable Initiative
• Jury Prize
• PocketFives Legacy Award
• People’s Choice Award for Poker Personality of the Year