Martin Jacobson, Ole Schemion and Victoria Coren Mitchell headline the 14th edition of the European Poker Tour, as poker prepares to invade the tiny island of Malta in March.
There is no rest for the wicked.
There is also no rest for the people trying to push poker into the faces of the general public – the not so wicked.
The buzz of the inaugural American Poker Awards (APA) still lingers, and Alex Dreyfus has to do it all again, this time on European soil. Can he do it? Can the 14th edition of the Global Poker Index (GPI) European Poker Awards (EPA) be more successful?
I think it can.
The Hilton Hotel in Malta may not be the SLS in Beverley Hills. We may not see representations of the three giants of poker in the same room again. But the presence of the European Poker Tour (EPT), European Poker Conference (EPC), and the inaugural Global Poker Masters (GPM) has me licking my lips.
In another punch to the kidneys to the French poker community, it will be the first time that the EPA has been held outside of France. There will be 13 awards in total, and the nominations for 11 of those awards have already been announced.
For the second consecutive year, Ole Schemion will pick up the award for GPI Player of the Year. Liv Boeree will pick up the female equivalent. Dominik Panka and Remko Rinkema have been nominated for two awards: Panka for Breakout Player of the Year, and Tournament Performance of the Year, and Rinkema for Media Person of the Year, and Content of the Year. Only Raising For Effective Giving (REG) will have been nominated on both sides of the water, with their appearance in the short list for Charitable Initiative of the Year.
Victoria Coren Mitchell will be ditching the TK Maxx for Karen Millen after she attempts to continue her successful showing at award ceremonies. The former PokerStars Team Pro has received a nomination in the Tournament Performance of the Year category. Coren Mitchell was nominated for three events at the British Poker Awards, including Best Tournament Performance, and she walked away with all three. She will be sorely tested on this occasion with Martin Jacobson’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event victory in the same category.
The awards ceremony will be held at the Hilton Hotel, St Julian’s on March 25th. They will follow the inaugural European Poker Conference. PokerStars and Roger Dubuis will sponsor the event, as they did in Beverley Hills.
Here is the full run down of nominations
GPI Player of the Year
• Ole Schemion
GPI Female Player of the Year
• Liv Boeree
Breakout Player of the Year
• George Danzer
• Dominik Panka
• Oliver Price
• Jack Salter
Tournament Performance of the Year
• Victoria Coren Mitchell, EPT San Remo
• Martin Jacobson, WSOP Main Event
• Davidi Kitai, WSOP Event #15
• Dominik Panka, PCA
Event of the Year (buy-in up to €2,000)
• Battle of Malta
• Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona
• Eureka Poker Tour Prague
• WPT500 at Dusk Till Dawn
Event of the Year (buy-in €2,000+)
• EPT Barcelona Main Event
• EPT Prague Main Event
• EPT Vienna Main Event
• Master Classics of Poker Amsterdam
Poker Innovation or Initiative of the Year
• Expresso, Winamax Poker
• Shark Cage, PokerStars
• Unibet launching its own gaming platform
• WPT500 and expansion to new markets
Charitable Initiative of the Year
• Helping Hands Charity Tournament
• REG charity
• Right to Play, Quintessentially Foundation in partnership with PokerStars
• WPT UK Charity Raffle
Industry Person of the Year
• Hermance Blum, General Manager WPT Europe
• Edgar Stuchly, EPT President
• Leon Tsoukernik, King’s Casino
• Rob Young, Dusk Till Dawn owner
Media Person of the Year
• Giovanni Angioni
• Marc Convey
• Lee Davy
• Remko Rinkema
Media Content of the Year
• EPT Live commentary
• Nosebleed, Victor Saumont
• Neil Stoddart’s pictures
• Remko Rinkema’s videos
Poker’s Best Ambassador
• Announced on the night
Lifetime Achievement
• Announced on the night
