In most deserving fashion, Brad Willis finally won the award for Best Journalist at the 6th Annual GPI Global Poker Awards in Las Vegas.
The Poker.Org editor-in-chief gave a very heartfelt and emotional speech after his award win, holding back tears as he gave thanks to all of those who have supported him throughout his 20 years of living mainly on the road.
Above all, Willis was most grateful to his family for staying by his side despite being away for long periods of time.
You can see his acceptance speech here.
Other big winners on the night included Nikki Limo, who took home her very first Global Poker Award for Best Media Content: Short-Form Video for What’s it like playing poker as a woman?
The Spraggs cleaned up as well, with Spraggy (Benjamin Spragg) winning his second Best Streamer award while Marle Spragg won Best Short-Form Content Creator.
Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter both won two awards on the night. Carter won for best Twitter personality as well as sharing an award with O’Kearney for the Best Poker Book (Beyond GTO: Poker Exploits Simplified). O’Kearney and David Lappin won the Best Podcast award for The Chip Race.
Though the night was brilliant for some, it wasn’t for all. Caitlin Comeskey, who lead all 2024 Global Poker Award Nominees with four nominations, left Vegas empty handed. Joe Stapleton was up for three awards but also came away without a trophy.
2024 Card Player Player of the Year Adrian Mateos won the highly-touted Toughest Opponent award, which is voted on by everybody who finished in the GPI top-100.
Of course, the ultimate 2024 GPI award winner, GPI player of the year winner David Coleman, came to collect his trophy.
The full list of winners can be found below.
| Award Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| GPI Poker Player of the Year | David Coleman (USA) |
| GPI Mid-Major Player of the Year | Han Feng (USA) |
| GPI Female Player of the Year | Cherish Andrews (USA) |
| Most Weeks at GPI #1 in 2024 | Jesse Lonis (USA) |
| GPI Breakout Player | Rania Nasreddine (USA) |
| Best Final Table Performance | Barny Boatman (England) – EPT Paris |
| Players Choice for Toughest Opponent | Adrian Mateos (Spain) |
| Best X/Twitter Personality | Barry Carter (England) |
| Best Industry Person | Francine Watson (England) |
| Best Tournament Director | Luca Vivaldi (Italy) |
| Best Director of Poker Operations | Ryan Beauregard (USA) |
| PokerGO Tour Player of the Year | Jeremy Ausmus (USA) |
| Rising Star in Content | Abby Merk |
| Best Media Content: Short-Form Video | Nikki Limo |
| Best Short-Form Content Creator | Marle Spragg |
| Best Streamer | Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg |
| Best Written Content | A Further Investigation into the Existence of the BotFarm Corporation (Jonathan Raab) |
| Best Vlogger | Brad Owen |
| Most Entertaining Player | Alejandro Lococo |
| Best Event | World Series of Poker Main Event, Horseshoe Las Vegas |
| Best Mid-Major Tour/Circuit | Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) |
| Best Stand-Alone Festival/Series | Irish Poker Open, Royal Dublin Society |
| Best Episodic Poker Series | The Big Game On Tour – PokerStars |
| Best On-Air Talent | Jeff Platt (USA) |
| Best Podcast | The Chip Race (David Lappin, Dara O’Kearney for Unibet Poker) |
| Best Poker Book | Beyond GTO: Poker Exploits Simplified (Dara O’Kearney, Barry Carter) |
| Best Media Content (Video) | The Four Rules of the Poker Kings (Greg Clark, BBC Scotland) |
| Best Media Content (Photo) | Danny Maxwell (Ireland) – Barny Boatman |
| Best Journalist | Brad Willis (USA) |
| Best Live Tournament Reporter | Mickey Doft (USA) |
| Best Hand (Fans Choice) | Xuan Liu Stars in Wild Hand at The Lodge |
| Most Original Trophy Design (Fans Choice) | PGT Texas Poker Open Belt Buckle |
| Best Poker Live Stream (Fans Choice) | Poker At The Lodge |
| Best Poker Room (Fans Choice) | Playground Poker Club Montreal, Canada |
| GPI Award of Merit | Gene Calden |
| The Hendon Mob Award | Dominick French |
| Charitable/Community Initiative | Poker Gives |