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The fourth annual GPI American Poker Awards were handed out on Thursday evening in West Hollywood, California. The event is presented by PokerStars and celebrates the game of poker in North America.

A total of 20 awards were presented in a variety of categories.

The nominees and winners

Two winners were known before the ceremony, as trophies went to the top-ranked American GPI player and the top-ranked female player:

2017 GPI American Player of the Year: Bryn Kenney
2017 GPI Female Player of the Year: Kristen Bicknell

Four other APA awards went to the following people:

Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poker: Norman Chad and Lon McEachern
Charitable Initiative: Jacob Zalewski, One Step Closer Foundation
Jury Prize: Eric Danis
PocketFives Legacy Award: Ari Engel

The final 14 APA trophy winners were selected from a predetermined group of finalists, voted on by a nine-member jury vote.

The jury consisted of:

Eric Danis
David Tuchman
Ari Engel
Ryan Feldman
Maria Ho
Adam Levy
Kevin Mathers
Donnie Peters
Robbie Strazynski

Here’s a look at the finalists and winners in each category.

BREAKOUT PLAYER

Dejuante “DJ” Alexander
Michael Del Vecchio
William Alex Foxen
Artur Papazyan

Winner: Artur Papazyan

TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE

Scott Blumstein (WSOP Main Event)
Darren Elias (WPT Fallsview)
Bryn Kenney (PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Super High Roller)
Doug Polk (WSOP One Drop High Roller)

Winner: Scott Blumstein

MOMENT OF THE YEAR

70-year-old John Smith makes back-to-back WSOP 10K Heads-Up finals
Ema Zajmovic becomes first female player to win open event on World Poker Tour
Vanessa Selbst’s Full House loses to Gaelle Baumann’s Quads early in the WSOP Main Event
Tom Dwan makes his return to America, stars on Poker After Dark reboot on PokerGo

Winner: Ema Zejmovic

EVENT OF THE YEAR

Super High Roller Bowl (ARIA Las Vegas)
partypoker MILLIONS North America (Playground Poker Club Montreal)
Poker Masters Event #1 (ARIA Las Vegas)
World Series of Poker Main Event (Rio Las Vegas)

Winner: partypoker MILLIONS North America

MID-MAJOR CIRCUIT

Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT)
RUNGOOD Poker Series
WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS)
World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC)

Winner: WPTDeepStacks

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Drew Amato
Lance Bradley
BJ Nemeth
Steve Ruddock
Jessica Welman

Winner: Lance Bradley

BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

Nick Schulman
Joseph Stapleton
Lon McEachern
Ali Nejad

Winner: Nick Schulman

MEDIA CONTENT

Adrian Moreno in tears after Little One for One Drop win; days after losing his friend (Drew Amato, photo for WSOP.com)
Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story (PokerCentral documentary)
Poker Brat: The Phill Hellmuth Story (Phil Hellmuth, published by D&B Publishing)
Resilience Defined: Sheddy Siddiqui Raising his Two Boys #ForCathy (Lance Bradley, article for PocketFives)

Winner: Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story

PODCAST

PokerCentral Podcast (Brent Hanks, Will O’Connor, Remko Rinkema)
PokerNews Podcast (Brent Harrington, Sarah Herring, Matt Parvis)
Poker Life Podcast (Joe Ingram)
TwoPlusTwo Podcast (Terrence Chan, Ross Henry, Adam Schwartz)

Winner: PokerCentral Podcast

VIDEO BLOGGER

Joe Ingram
Daniel Negreanu
Andrew Neeme
Doug Polk

Winner: Andrew Neeme

POKER STREAMER

Jeff Gross
Bill Perkins
Jason Somerville
Jaime Staples
Parker Talbot

Winner: Jaime Staples

INDUSTRY PERSON

Tony Burns
Sean McCormack
Adam Pliska
Matt Savage

Winner: Matt Savage

POKER’S BIGGEST INFLUENCER

Cary Katz
Daniel Negreanu
Doug Polk
Matt Savage

Winner: Cary Katz

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FOR POKER PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

Jonathan Little
Andrew Neeme
Daniel Negreanu
Doug Polk

Winner: Andrew Neeme

Who we think should have won

Since the American Poker Awards uses a handpicked jury to decide most of its winners, US Poker decided to put together its own jury, and here’s the final results of our voting.

Author’s note: This shouldn’t be seen as criticism of the GPI selections, or as US Poker disagreeing with the winners, this was just a fun exercise we did several days before the APA ceremony.

BREAKOUT PLAYER

Bart Shirley: William Alex Foxen
Kim Yuhl: William Alex Foxen
Dustin Gouker: Dejuante “DJ” Alexander
Matt Clark: Artur Papazyan
Brett Collson: William Alex Foxen
Steve Ruddock: William Alex Foxen

US Poker winner: William Alex Foxen

After receiving four of the US Poker six votes, William Alex Foxen was our clear choice in the Breakout Player of the Year category.

TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE

Bart Shirley: Scott Blumstein (WSOP Main Event)
Kim Yuhl: Bryn Kenney (PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Super High Roller)
Dustin Gouker: Doug Polk (WSOP One Drop High Roller)
Matt Clark: Scott Blumstein (WSOP Main Event)
Brett Collson: Scott Blumstein (WSOP Main Event)
Steve Ruddock: Scott Blumstein (WSOP Main Event)

US Poker winner: Scott Blumstein

It would take something really special to beat the WSOP Main Event, and despite some good performances, the trophy belongs to Scott Blumstein.

MOMENT OF THE YEAR

Bart Shirley: Ema Zajmovic becomes first female player to win open event on World Poker Tour
Kim Yuhl: 70-year-old John Smith makes back-to-back WSOP 10K Heads-Up finals
Dustin Gouker: 70-year-old John Smith makes back-to-back WSOP 10K Heads-Up finals
Matt Clark: Tom Dwan makes his return to America, stars on Poker After Dark reboot on PokerGo
Brett Collson: 70-year-old John Smith makes back-to-back WSOP 10K Heads-Up finals
Steve Ruddock: 70-year-old John Smith makes back-to-back WSOP 10K Heads-Up finals

US Poker winner: John Smith

The APA jury went with the Ema Zajmovic’s historic win, but the US Poker jury has a soft spot for the story arc of the old guy putting the whippersnappers in their place.

EVENT OF THE YEAR

Bart Shirley: Poker Masters Event #1 (ARIA Las Vegas)
Kim Yuhl: World Series of Poker Main Event (Rio Las Vegas)
Dustin Gouker: World Series of Poker Main Event (Rio Las Vegas)
Matt Clark: Super High Roller Bowl (ARIA Las Vegas)
Brett Collson: partypoker MILLIONS North America (Playground Poker Club Montreal)
Steve Ruddock: World Series of Poker Main Event (Rio Las Vegas)

US Poker winner: WSOP Main Event

With three votes, the trophy goes to the WSOP Main Event. Only Brett Collson was in agreement with the APA jury.

MID-MAJOR CIRCUIT

Bart Shirley: Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT)
Kim Yuhl: Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT)
Dustin Gouker: Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT)
Matt Clark: WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS)
Brett Collson: WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS)
Steve Ruddock: WPTDeepStacks (WPTDS)

US Poker winner: WPTDS and MSPT

We have a tie! The MSPT and WPT DeepStacks split the votes from our jury.

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Bart Shirley: Steve Ruddock
Kim Yuhl: Steve Ruddock
Dustin Gouker: Steve Ruddock
Matt Clark: Lance Bradley
Brett Collson: Steve Ruddock
Steve Ruddock: Abstain from voting

US Poker winner: Steve Ruddock

I wouldn’t put much stock in this one, as I suspect my coworkers are angling for me to pick up a dinner check or something.

BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

Bart Shirley: Ali Nejad
Kim Yuhl: Nick Schulman
Dustin Gouker: Nick Schulman
Matt Clark: Nick Schulman
Brett Collson: Nick Schulman
Steve Ruddock: Nick Schulman

US Poker winner: Nick Schulman

Nick was the APA trophy winner, and US Poker’s near consensus choice.

MEDIA CONTENT

Bart Shirley: Adrian Moreno in tears after Little One for One Drop win; days after losing his friend (Drew Amato, photo for WSOP.com)
Kim Yuhl: Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story (PokerCentral documentary)
Dustin Gouker: Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story (PokerCentral documentary)
Matt Clark: Adrian Moreno in tears after Little One for One Drop win; days after losing his friend (Drew Amato, photo for WSOP.com)
Brett Collson: Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story (PokerCentral documentary)
Steve Ruddock: Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story (PokerCentral documentary)

US Poker winner: Dead Money

Poker Central’s Dead Money was the APA jury pick, as well as our favorite in the Content of the Year category. The 30-for-30-esque documentary was well received and expanded the boundaries of poker content.

PODCAST

Bart Shirley: TwoPlusTwo Podcast (Terrence Chan, Ross Henry, Adam Schwartz)
Kim Yuhl: PokerNews Podcast (Brent Harrington, Sarah Herring, Matt Parvis)
Dustin Gouker: TwoPlusTwo Podcast (Terrence Chan, Ross Henry, Adam Schwartz)
Matt Clark: PokerCentral Podcast (Brent Hanks, Will O’Connor, Remko Rinkema)
Brett Collson: Poker Life Podcast (Joe Ingram)
Steve Ruddock: TwoPlusTwo Podcast (Terrence Chan, Ross Henry, Adam Schwartz)

US Poker winner: TwoPlusTwo Podcast

Each of the finalists received a vote from the US Poker panel, but the TwoPlusTwo Podcast edged out the other contenders. PokerCentral was the actual winner.

VIDEO BLOGGER

Bart Shirley: Doug Polk
Kim Yuhl: Andrew Neeme
Dustin Gouker: Andrew Neeme
Matt Clark: Andrew Neeme
Brett Collson: Andrew Neeme
Steve Ruddock: Andrew Neeme

US Poker winner: Andrew Neeme

Neeme was a runaway winner in the Video Blogger category.

POKER STREAMER

Bart Shirley: Jason Somerville
Kim Yuhl: Bill Perkins
Dustin Gouker: Jason Somerville
Matt Clark: Jeff Gross
Brett Collson: Parker Talbot
Steve Ruddock: Jaime Staples

US Poker winner: Jason Somerville

Every finalist got a vote in this category as well, so with just a plurality of the vote, Jason Somerville is our winner. I’ll point out that I was the only voter to pick the actual winner here, Jaime Staples.

INDUSTRY PERSON

Bart Shirley: Matt Savage
Kim Yuhl: Tony Burns
Dustin Gouker: Matt Savage
Matt Clark: Matt Savage
Brett Collson: Sean McCormack
Steve Ruddock: Matt Savage

US Poker winner: Matt Savage

The US Poker jury lined up with the APA jury here, as Matt Savage received four of the six votes, making him the clear-cut winner in this category.

POKER’S BIGGEST INFLUENCER

Bart Shirley: Doug Polk
Kim Yuhl: Cary Katz
Dustin Gouker: Daniel Negreanu
Matt Clark: Cary Katz
Brett Collson: Cary Katz
Steve Ruddock: Cary Katz

US Poker winner: Cary Katz

Once again, the US Poker jury and the APA jury were in agreement. The unique and innovative content coming out of Poker Central garnered Katz four of the six votes in this category.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

Bart Shirley: Doug Polk
Kim Yuhl: Andrew Neeme
Dustin Gouker: Daniel Negreanu
Matt Clark: Doug Polk
Brett Collson: Doug Polk
Steve Ruddock: Daniel Negreanu

US Poker winner: Doug Polk

Kim Yuhl was the only vote that lined up with the APA jury. Everyone else was for Negreanu or Polk.

The post Who Won (And Who Should Have Won) At The American Poker Awards appeared first on .

Executive Summary:

We’re now in the thick of the Q4/FY 2017 reporting season. To keep you up to date with all the latest, we have a brand new feature for PRO subscribers, Industry Monitor, which presents the most important information from the PRO Data platform into a single, easily digestible format. We already have Business Monitors published on Playtech, Kindred Group and Zynga, and Market Monitors on Delaware, New Jersey, France and Spain. Portugal to come next week. In addition, we have editorial coverage on Playtech and Kindred, and pokerfuse has a take on the New Jersey numbers.

But, while the revenue figures from New Jersey might look a bit bleak, the market is still highly competitive, and this winter season has been no exception. All three networks are running big tournament series this month. The New Jersey Poker Classic on WSOP/888 is the biggest, concluding this weekend, with a total of $800,000 guaranteed. Overlapping that is PokerStars Turbo Series, debuting for the first time in the market, and we’ve just got word that Borgata/partypoker’s next Garden State Super Series is scheduled for a week next month.

Read the full article on pokerfuse →