Now that 2017 is done and dusted, the Global Poker Index (GPI) will look back at the poker industry and award the top performers in its annual American Poker Awards. The popular award ceremony is returning for its fourth season to Los Angeles and will take place on February 22 at 7 p.m. This year, the awards night is moving from its usual location at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills to Andaz West Hollywood.

In a statement, Alexandre Dreyfus, president of American Poker Awards, said “We are very excited to return to the Los Angeles area for a fourth straight year to reward the most deserving poker players, industry leaders and media members in the business. We are proud to once again host the poker world and look forward to seeing you in Los Angeles!”

Those who are interested in attending the awards night must register on the event registration page set up by the organizers. Registrations to the awards ceremony are limited as the organizers have confirmed that only 120 seats are available to the general public.

American Poker Awards Categories

Over a dozen categories will once again be awarded this year and PokerStars will once again take on the role as the title sponsor. There were a total of 15 awards were given out last year in the following categories: GPI Player of the Year, GPI Female Player of the Year, Media Person of the Year, Industry Person of the Year, Breakout Performance of the Year, Tournament Performance of the Year, Mid-Major Circuit of the Year, Event of the Year, Charitable Initiative of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Moment of the Year, Poker Media Content of the Year, Twitch Streamer of the Year, Poker Podcast of the Year, and Pocketfives Legacy Award.

GPI has yet to reveal the categories and nominees for this year’s awards night but already three poker pros are expected to come up the stage for their moment of fame on February 22.

GPI Player Of The Year Award

The GPI Players of the Year award is given to the male and female poker players who finished at the top of GPI’s points ranking system after the poker season. Adrian Mateos and Kristen Bicknell took the top spot in the male and female rankings and will have their names etched on two of the GPI American Poker Awards’ most prestigious trophies.

Mateos made quite a year out of 2017 and zoomed past Bryn Kenney before the year closed and finished with $5,881,228 from 37 cashes. The GPI Player of the Year title really is well-deserved since Mateos is the youngest player to win three World Series of Poker bracelets. Mateos won four events in 2017 and is also the first non-German native to nab the GPI Player of the Year Europe.

Bicknell set her place in the GPI ranking as early as October last year and broke the $1 million barrier after cashing in a total of $1.2 million in live tournament winnings after the PokerStars Championship Prague. Some of her highlights in 2017 include her C$71,820 victory in the C$5,000 WPT Fallsview Poker Classic, a $96,823 cash-in after the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Championship at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, and a side event victory at the World Poker Tour Five Diamond for almost $200,000.

Bryn Kenney will also be awarded at the ceremony and will receive the GPI American Player of the Year award.

Tags: Adrian Mateos, American Poker Awards, Bryn Kenney, Gpi, GPI Player of the Year, Kristen Bicknell

This entry was posted on Monday, January 15th, 2018 at 1:01 am and is filed under Poker Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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