GPA Awards

The 5^th annual Global Poker Awards nominations are in, and with stars of the felt such as Daniel Negreanu, Jason Koon, Marle Spragg all up for gongs, the excitement is now mounting. The ceremony to present the winners with their trophies doesn’t take place until February 24^th, 2024 on PokerGO but before then, the poker world will be poring over the players who have been nominated and choosing their favorites.

Jason Koon

Luminaries on the Lookout for Glory

There are first a number of awards that are already assured to be handed out to the known winners. Kristen Foxen has already won the Global Poker Index Female Player of the Year award – her fourth in the five years that the Global Poker Awards have been in operation – while the GGPoker show Game of Gold didn’t just capture the public’s imagination but will also receive the GPI Award of Merit award on the night.

Bin Weng, that stalwart of World Poker Tour Main Events, is also guaranteed to be practicing his acceptance speech as you read this. That’s because he is the GPI Poker Player of Year so will be lifting that trophy in four weeks’ time. Favorite to win the Best Final Table Performance award might be the current world champion, WSOP Main Event winner Daniel Weinman. The Atlanta, Georgia player will need to better Padraig O’Neill’s final table comeback at EPT Barcelona, Daniel Sepiol’s WPT World Championship win and Erik Seidel’s whose high roller win at the WSOP Paradise festival landed him a 10^th WSOP bracelet.

One of the biggest awards is the one given to Players Choice for Toughest Opponent. Voted for solely by the best 100 poker players in the world, the category features four players who it is the devil’s own job to try and choose between. Stephen Chidwick, Alex Foxen and Jason Koon all had terrific years in 2023, but having won the most dollars in his career to date and hoovered up major titles like he was playing with his last dime, the ‘Year of Isaac’ might see the trophy head Isaac Haxton’s way.

5TH GLOBAL POKER AWARDS NOMINEES (LISTED ALPHABETICALLY)

PLAYERS CHOICE FOR TOUGHEST OPPONENT

Voted on by the Top 100 players on the GPI as of January 3, 2024

Stephen Chidwick
Alex Foxen
Isaac Haxton
Jason Koon

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

GPI BREAKOUT PLAYER

Jans Arends
William Kopp
Samuel Laskowitz
Santosh Suvarna

BEST X/TWITTER PERSONALITY

Caitlin Comeskey
Will Jaffe
Jamie Kerstetter
Marle Spragg

BEST STREAMER

Kevin Martin “kevinmartin”
Benjamin Spragg “Spraggy”
Bert Stevens “girafganger7”
Lex Veldhuis “LexVeldhuis”

BEST VLOGGER

Jaman Burton “TheDrawingDeadVlog”
Corey Eyring “corey_eyring”
Daniel Negreanu “dnegspoker”
Brad Owen “BradOwenPoker”
Alexander Seibt “Wolfgang_Poker”

BEST SHORT-FORM CONTENT CREATOR

Caitlin Comeskey
Gregory Liow “Greg Goes All In”
Marle Spragg
Alexander Seibt“Wolfgang Poker”

BEST INDUSTRY PERSON

Ryan Beauregard
Mori Eskandani
Adam Pliska
Francine Watson

BEST TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

Jack Effel
Ray Pulford
Matt Savage
Toby Stone

BEST EVENT

Irish Poker Open Main Event
World Series of Poker Main Event
WPT Prime Championship at Wynn Las Vegas
WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas

BEST MID-MAJOR CIRCUIT/TOUR

Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP)
RUNGOOD Poker Series (RGPS)
World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC)
WPT Prime (WPTP)

BEST STAND-ALONE FESTIVAL/SERIES

Irish Poker Open
Malta Poker Festival
Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Wynn Millions Poker Series

BEST BROADCASTER

Henry Kilbane
Ali Nejad
Jeffrey Platt
Nick Schulman

BEST PODCAST

Only Friends Podcast (Matt Berkey, Melissa Schubert, Landon Tice and friends)
Poker in the Ears (James Hartigan, Joseph Stapleton for PokerStars)
The Chip Race Poker Podcast (David K Lappin, Dara O’Kearney, Barry Carter for Unibet Poker)
Thinking Poker (Andrew Brokos, Carlos Welch)

BEST MEDIA CONTENT: WRITTEN

The Tales of Billy Baxter: The Final Days of Stu Ungar (David Hill for WPT.com)
The Truth Detective: A Poker Player’s Guide to a Complex World (Alex O’Brien)
He Played At An Elite Level For Seven Decades: Doyle Brunson Remembered During WSOP By His Peers (Connor Richards for PokerNews)
PokerGO might have just saved televised poker (Brad Willis for Poker.org)

BEST MEDIA CONTENT: VIDEO

Caitlin Comeskey: A love letter to the million dollar game @HCLPokerShow
Phil Galfond, Matti Harju: What Makes Phil Ivey the GOAT? [Untold Stories] (Phil Galfond, Matti Harju)
PokerGO: Doyle Brunson Celebration of Life
Marle Spragg: ICM

BEST MEDIA CONTENT: PHOTO

Matthew Berglund: “Inconsolable”
Hayley Hochstetler: “Weinman Wins”
Rachel Kay Winter: “Schulman Cool”
Danny Maxwell: “On the Bubble”

FANS CHOICE: POKER PERSONALITY

Gregory Liow “Greg Goes All In”
Seth Moeller “SethyPoker”
Jonathan Rand “Slow Poker”
Alexander Seibt “Wolfgang Poker”

FANS CHOICE: BEST LIVE STREAM

Hustler Casino Live
Poker at the Lodge
PokerGO
PokerStars Live
Triton Poker

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