This year’s edition of the European Poker Awards took place on May 3 at the glitzy Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort in Monaco. Poker players, media representatives, and industry personalities gathered for the sixteenth consecutive year to celebrate what has been done in poker throughout the previous year.
As usual, the awards ceremony was presented by the Global Poker Index and founder Alex Dreyfus. It honored the achievements of some of the best poker players on the European poker scene as well as the contributions of media representatives and other involved personalities to the global promotion and popularization of the game of poker.
Earlier this year, the 2nd annual American Poker Awards took place at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The EPA and the APA have the same format when it comes to determining the winners in a number of categories.
This year, there were a total of 9 voting categories in the EPA. A special nomination panel was asked to determine the four nominees in all 9 categories. The panel consisted of media personalities, casino staff, tournament organizers and directors, poker event sponsors, etc. They had to provide no more than 2 names in each category. The top 4 vote getters in the 9 categories were handed to the jury. It was the jury’s responsibility to determine all 9 winners.
Apart from the 9 voting categories, there were 2 GPI ranking awards – one for GPI Player of the Year and the other for GPI Female Player of the Year. This year, the Best Ambassador Award was not part of the event. However, a Special Industry Achievement award was given by the jury.
Here are all the players and industry personalities who were honored at the 2015 European Poker Awards:
GPI Player of the Year
Fedor Holz
GPI Female Player of the Year
Liv Boeree
Jury Award – Special Industry Achievement Award
Neil Stoddart
Media Person of the Year
Remko Rinkema
Nominees:
Frank Op de Woerd
Lee Davy
Neil Stoddart
Remko Rinkema
Industry Person of the Year
Hermance Blum
Nominees:
Edgar Stuchly
Hermance Blum
Luca Vivaldi
Rob Yong
Thomas Lamatsch
Tournament Performance of the Year
Adrian Mateos Wins the 2015 EPT Grand Final Main Event
Nominees:
Adrian Mateos Wins the 2015 EPT Grand Final Main Event
Barny Boatman wins second career WSOP bracelet at WSOP Europe
Fedor Holz Wins WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas
Mustapha Kanit wins EPT Barcelona 10K High Roller
Event of the Year (buy-in fee of up to €2,000)
Norwegian Championships Norway Cup
Nominees:
Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona
Norwegian Championships Norway Cup
PokerListings Battle of Malta
WPT500 at Dusk Till Dawn
Event of the Year (buy-in of over €2,000)
EPT Barcelona Main Event
Nominees:
EPT Barcelona Main Event
EPT Grand Final Main Event
EPT Prague Main Event
WSOP Europe Main Event
Poker Innovation or Initiative of the Year:
Norwegian Championship broadcast (sports style)
Nominees:
Norwegian Championship broadcast (sports style)
PokerStars Play Along App – Interactive Poker on TV
PokerStars using superstars (athletes) for global campaign
WSOP Europe remote Twitch broadcasts
Moment of the Year
John Gale returns from three years off (because of brain tumor) to win second WSOP gold bracelet
Nominees:
Dzmitry Urbanovich wins Crazy Pineapple tourney at EPT Malta – 4th win of series
Epic hand between Mateos and Lodden at EPT Grand Final
John Gale returns from three years off (because of brain tumor) to win second WSOP gold bracelet
Pierre Neuville qualifies for the WSOP November Nine – after declaring he was not done
Poker Media Content of the Year
“Devilfish: A Friend with a Heart of Gold” — PokerNews article by Jesse May and Mickey May
Nominees:
“The Future of Poker in the Post-Boom Era” — Sam Grafton blog
“The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Defeat” — Neil Stoddart’s picture captures Montury consoling Messina at EPT Malta
“Devilfish: A Friend with a Heart of Gold” — PokerNews article by Jesse May and Mickey May
Remko Report, PokerNews Podcast, August 2015 — Eli Elezra talks time in Israeli Army and high stakes with legends
