The 5th 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 24th, 2024 on PokerGO but before then, the poker world will be poring over the players who have been nominated and choosing their favorites.
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 10th 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.
Treble Chances for Caitlin Comeskey, ‘Wolfgang Poker’ and Marle Spragg
Winning a Global Poker Award would be the dream for many poker content creators, players and behind-the-scenes workers. Winning three? That’s an ambition reserved for just three nominees in 2024. Two of the highest-profile players of the past 12 months feature, with Caitlin Comeskey and Marle Spragg both up for Best Short-Form Content Creator, Best Video Content and Best X/Twitter Personality respectively. Alexander Seibt – a.k.a. Wolfgang Poker’ – is also up for three awards, but we can see Comeskey and Marle sharing the trio of awards they’re up for. Our nod would be for Comeskey to take Content Creator and X/Twitter Personality, with Spragg taking the trophy in Best Video Content for her year of consistency in front of the camera (and behind it!).
Spragg’s rise to prominence – along with Comeskey – proves that female players, content creators and persons of power in poker have never been greater recognized and we’re all for this. This writer personally feels that it has been too long that female players and personalities have been ushered to the side of the stage rather than owning it with the spotlight on them.
Jeff Platt to Turn Down Interview… with Himself?
Nominated for the Best Broadcaster, Jeff Platt will have to get past Nick Schulman, Ali Nejad and Henry Kilbane if he is to claim a trophy presented by… himself? Famously gaining notoriety not just for some stirling play at the felt himself but interviewing players moments before they bust, can Platt avoid talking to himself for the next 31 days and placing the curse on his own head? We can’t wait to find out… but think Schulman presents his biggest threat.
The Breakout Player of the Year is another hard-fought category which could go any of four ways. Dutch player Jans Arends takes on home country heroes William Kopp and Samuel Laskowitz as well as Indian high roller superstar Santosh Suvarna. Laskowitz might be a good outside bet here on your GPA ‘bingo card’ tickets.
The Best Streamer category sees former Big Brother winner Kevin Martin take on Marle’s husband Ben ‘Spraggy’ Spragg, Bert ‘girafganger’ Stevens and Lex Veldhuis, who could be the pick on your coupon there. In terms of Best Vlogger, Daniel Negreanu’s WSOP daily videos are surely the heavy favorite, with Jaman Burton, Corey Eyring, Alexander Seibt and WPT’s Brad Owen all hoping to cause an upset.
Finally, its worth giving a mention to the hotly contested Best Industry Person category. While Mori Eskandani is a lock to win it one day, as might be WPT’s Adam Pliska and Ryan Beauregard, PokerStars’ Francine Watson has been much talked about in the pre-vote discussions, led by her colleague Joe ‘Stapes’ Stapleton. Can Stapes’ bid for her tireless devotion to improving poker itself pay dividends? We’ll find out when the 5th Global Poker Awards take place on February 2024, live and exclusively on PokerGO.
Here are the list of nominations in the remaining 16 categories still undecided:
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
* Benjamin Spragg
* Bert Stevens (a.k.a. ‘girafganger7’)
* Lex Veldhuis
BEST VLOGGER
* Jaman Burton
* Corey Eyring
* Daniel Negreanu
* Brad Owen
* Alexander Seibt (a.k.a. Wolfgang Poker’)
BEST SHORT-FORM CONTENT CREATOR
* Caitlin Comeskey
* Gregory Liow (a.k.a. ‘Greg Goes All In’)
* Marle Spragg
* Alexander Seibt (a.k.a. ‘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 STANDALONE 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 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)
* Doyle Brunson Remembered During WSOP (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’
* Phil Galfon & Matti Harju: ‘What Makes Phil Ivey the GOAT?’
* 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
FANS CHOICE: BEST TROPHY
* Asian Poker Tour Taipei Lion Trophy
* Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup
* NAPT Las Vegas Main Event Trophy
* Poker Dream Malaysia Dragon Trophy
* World Series of Poker Main Event Bracelet
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