Nominations are out for the European Poker Awards

The nominations include an impressive list of players, events and industry professionals, who will vie for the GPI 2014 European Poker Awards on March 25th.

The fourteenth European Poker Awards takes place on March 25th at the Portomaso Marina Hilton Hotel on the island of Malta. Like the recently hosted American Poker Awards, thirteen awards will be presented to the players, events and industry professions who made the greatest contribution to poker in Europe during 2014.

Also similarly to the American Poker Awards, the glittering ceremony will take place after a poker conference – which will see two panels of industry professionals discussing “Live Poker in Europe: Current Climate and Future Innovations” and “Online Poker Snapshot: The State of Online Poker in Europe”. There will also be a player´s panel which will discuss the live poker ecosystem and what improvements players would like to see in 2015.

Who is in the Frame for an Award?

The destination of two of the awards is already known due to their Global Poker Index rankings at the end of 2014. Ole Schemion will add to his award in 2013 for “Live European Player of the Year” when he picks up the plaque for “GPI Player of the Year” while Liv Boeree takes the “GPI Female Player of the Year” after dominating the ladies rankings throughout 2014.

The following categories and nominations (in the order we believe they are going to be distributed) are:

Media Person of 2014

• Giovanni Angioni
• Marc Convey
• Lee Davy
• Remko Rinkema

Industry Person of 2014

• Hermance Blum, General Manager WPT Europe
• Edgar Stuchly, EPT President
• Leon Tsoukernik, Owner of King’s Casino, Rozvadov
• Rob Young, Owner of Dusk Till Dawn

Breakout Player of 2014

• George Danzer
• Dominik Panka
• Oliver Price
• Jack Salter

Tournament Performance of 2014

• Victoria Coren Mitchell, EPT Main Event San Remo
• Martin Jacobson, WSOP Main Event
• Davidi Kitai, WSOP Event #15
• Dominik Panka, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure

Event of 2014 (buy-in < €2,000)

• EPT Barcelona Main Event
• EPT Prague Main Event
• EPT Vienna Main Event
• Master Classics of Poker Amsterdam

Event of the Year (buy-in > €2,000)

• Battle of Malta
• Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona
• Eureka Poker Tour Prague
• WPT500 at Dusk Till Dawn

Poker Innovation or Initiative of 2014

• Winamax Poker for Expresso
• PokerStars for Shark Cage
• Unibet for launching its own gaming platform
• WPT for WPT500 Events and expansion into new markets

Charitable Initiative of 2014

• Helping Hands Charity Tournament
• REG Charity (Raising for Effective Giving)
• Right to Play (PokerStars)
• WPT UK Charity Raffle

Media Content of 2014

• EPT Live Commentary
• “Nosebleed” by Victor Saumont
• Neil Stoddart’s pictures
• Remko Rinkema’s videos

Poker´s Best Ambassador/Lifetime Achievement Award

The two remaining awards are presented to the players or industry professionals who are considered to be the best ambassador for poker in Europe and deserving of acknowledgement for their achievements. The award for “Poker´s Best Ambassador” is determined by a public vote so, if you have an opinion on the matter, head on over to the European Poker Awards website and cast your vote.

The “Lifetime Achievement Award” is decided by an independent voting jury and presented to somebody with a long history of service to the poker industry. Last year the award was won by former Hendon Mobster Barny Boatman, and previous winners include Bruno Fitoussi, Marcel Luske, John Duthie and Dave Ulliot.

Maybe it is time for Sky Poker´s Tony “TiKay” Kendall to get the nod – who knows?