The 2019 Global Poker Awards were celebrated in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday night at the PokerGO studios as Joey Ingram was among the headline winners on a star-studded night in the poker industry.
With plenty of awards to hand out, the presenting duties were split between Maria Ho and Drea Renee as the great and glorious of the poker industry bubble saw gongs handed to them – or presented via video link – and a slick show wow the poker fans. Here are some of the highlights.
Breakout Player
There was no surprise in this category as Robert Campbell managed to triumph against Ramon Colillas, Ben Farrell and PLO expert George Wolff. Campbell emergence coincided with his run to becoming WSOP Player of the Year.
Final Table Performance
Here there was a step away from the traditional WSOP Main Event winner, where Hossein Ensan was unable to take down the award. While Alex Foxen’s performance in the WPT Five Diamond Classic warranted celebration and Bryn Kenney’s legendary showing in the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro was also mightily impressive, it was Phil Hui who took the gong for his epic WSOP Poker Players Championship victory.
Player’s Choice for Toughest Opponent
This was a shoe-in as Stephen Chidwick took the prize in the category all the nominated players wanted to win – the one voted for by their peers.
Kahle Burns, Michael Addamo and Ali Imsirovic all got close but lost to the best man.
Industry Person of the Year
The Industry Person of the Year was a tough battle that was eventually won by Paul Phua of Triton Poker, who made it to the trophy against legends Matt Savage (who won Tournament Director of the Year), Cary Katz and Phil Galfond, who is about to resume his so-far-so-bad Galfond Challenge against VeniVidi.
Social Awards
The Twitter Personality of the Year went to Jamie Kerstetter, who managed to ‘out-like’ Barny Boatman, Kitty Kuo and Kevin Mathers. Best Vlogger of the Year went to Andrew Neeme, while Jennifer Shahade won Best Podcast for The Grid. The People’s Choice for Poker Personality went to Jonathan Little.
Content Awards
It was so near but so far for our own Paul Seaton, who missed out on the award for best Written Media Content, with the fantastic book Poker & Pop Culture seeing Martin Harris win the award and deservedly rewarding Martin’s career in the game. Streamer of the Year went to the effortlessly cool Lex Veldhuis. Elsewhere, Joey Ingram won the award for Video Media Content and it wasn’t Ingram’s only win of the night. For his work on the Mike Postle case, Joey Ingram also won the title of Journalist of the Year.
🌐♣️🏆 Joey Ingram wins Journalist of the Year & Content of the Year – Video Awards at #GlobalPokerAwards @Joeingram1 pic.twitter.com/qJlx2rTj7H
— Global Poker Index (@gpi) March 7, 2020
Event Awards
With PokerStars ramping down their scheduled events – and cancelling three European stops that take place before April due to the Coronavirus – their success in winning Event of the Year for their PokerStars Players Championship Bahamas must be seen as a huge pat on the back from the industry for the stunning event that made players’ dreams comes true.
Elsewhere, the Mid-Major Tour/Circuit of the Year award went to the Rungood Poker Series which overcame strong challenges from the Triton London Million for Charity and the WSOP Main Event and BIG 50 events.
Iconic Awards
The Poker Icon award went to the legendary back-to-back WSOP Main Event champion and Poker Hall of Fame player Johnny Chan. An iconic photograph from this year’s WSOP Main Event won the Photo Media Content award, with Drew Amato given the award for this amazing photo of Dario Sammartino:
2019 Global Poker Award Winners:
| GPI Breakout Player of the Year | Robert Campbell |
| Final Table Performance of the Year | Phillip Hui (WSOP Poker Players Championship) |
| Poker Icon Award | Johnny Chan |
| Vlogger of the Year | Andrew Neeme |
| Podcast of the Year | Jennifer Shahade (The Grid) |
| Industry Person of the Year | Paul Phua (Triton Poker) |
| Twitter Personality of the Year | Jamie Kerstetter |
| Players Choice for Toughest Opponent | Stephen Chidwick |
| Streamer of the Year | Lex Veldhuis |
| Tournament Director of the Year | Matt Savage |
| >Event of the Year | PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) Bahamas |
| Mid-Major Tour/Circuit of the Year | RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) |
| Journalist of the Year | Joey Ingram |
| Media Content of the Year Video | Joey Ingram |
| Broadcaster of the Year | Nick Schulman |
| Written Media Content of the Year | Martin Harris (Poker and Pop Culture) |
| Media Content of the Year Photo | Drew Amato: Dario Sammartino folds at WSOP |
| People’s Choice Poker Personality | Jonathan Little |
| People’s Choice for Hand of the Year | Ryan Riess’s 10-high call at EPT Monte Carlo |
| Award of Merit | Tournament Live Reporters |
| Hendon Mob Award | John Cernuto |
