The Global Poker Awards were held recently in Las Vegas at Aria’s PokerGO Studio and honored some of the best players, media, and leaders in the industry.
As poker streaming continues to grow in popularity, the awards also single out one of the top streamers in the game. The event saw PokerStars ambassador Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg walk away with the award for “Best Streamer.”
“Thanks to everybody … who watches my stream,” Spragg said during his acceptance speech. “Obviously without them, it’s just me talking to a webcam on my own at my house.”
Since joining Team PokerStars in 2015, Spragg has seen his Twitch poker stream grow in popularity during that time. He’s become one of the most successful streamers in the game.
The streamer category saw a packed field of talented streamers that included Lex Veldhuis, Kevin Martin, and Jonathan “apestyles” Van Fleet.
Spragg also thanked his wife for her support and the moderators who aid in his streaming efforts.
“Thank you everybody who I work with at PokerStars,” he added. “They’ve been great from day one and always given me support and resources to do my thing.
“And thank you everyone outside of PokerStars at other poker rooms, and Poker PROductions, who offer resources and support people making content. It’s a very important part I believe in growing the game. I thank everyone in those positions who make choices to give independent content creators opportunities like I’ve been given.”
Thank you everyone for the kind words about my win at the global poker awards. There are so many great streamers who all know how tough it is to produce and deliver content on a consistent basis. I'd like to thank them for streaming and thank all of you for watching. Much love x
— Spraggy (@spraggy) February 19, 2022
Running hot, Spraggy also hits royal flush
Beyond the award and playing online, it looks like Spraggy also headed out for some live poker recently. He stayed in Las Vegas after the awards and Tweeted a hand from his action last week as well.
This particular hand saw the poker streamer land a nice royal flush. No word on the pot size or how the hand played out, but Spragg held the K♥J♥.
The Q♥J♦10♥came on the flop, giving him an open-end royal flush draw. The K♠ came on the river and then he hit the big one with the A♥ on the river.
Things certainly seem to be going well at the tables and at the streaming mic of late for Spraggy.
AWOOOOOOGA! THAT'S A ROYAL FLUSH FOR ME!!!! pic.twitter.com/MzGJdPiAyd
— Spraggy (@spraggy) February 25, 2022
Two other team members earn GPI hardware
The awards on the night didn’t stop there for the PokerStars team. The site’s regular commentary team of James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton also walked away with some honors.
The duo earned “Best Podcast” distinction for the “Poker in the Ears” podcast.
“Wow, thank you guys,” Stapleton, who is also a standup comedian, said in accepting the honor. “I did write something, but this was unexpected. This is actually a very cool win because this is not my win. I’m here accepting all the praise and the fanfare, and all the compliments, and hopefully all the sexual energy from this table over here.
“I get to receive all that, but I didn’t really win this. The show did, which is very, very cool. It’s not just me. Me and Hartigan and the people at PokerStars, who trust us and give us the resources to do our thing, all get to share in this. And I want you to know that there are people at PokerStars who care about putting out the best content in the entire poker industry.”
The return of the awards followed a 23-month hiatus, making the night’s celebrations a bit more special for those attending. For a complete look at all the night’s awards, click here.