Global Poker Index has announced its opening of four special "Fans Choice" categories as part of the run-up to the 2023 Global Poker Awards ceremony in late February in Las Vegas. The Fans Choice awards have become a stable component of the annual awards presentation compiled by GPI, which honors the best and the brightest throughout the poker world.
On Monday, GPI opened the first of four categories, the 2023 People’s Choice Award for Poker Personality, with the initial write-in/nomination round. The opening phase runs through 11pm Pacific time on Monday, January 22. Following an off day for tallying, the top four nominees will be announced and the final voting round opened on Wednesday, January 24.
Voting will remain open for the year's top poker personality until 11pm on January 31. The previous four winners of the Poker Personality were:
- Brad Owen - 2018
- Jonathan Little - 2019
- Masato Yokosawa - 2021
- Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau - 2022
Best Hand, Trophy, Livestream honors return
On Tuesday, the other three Fans Choice GPA categories were opened for public voting as well -- the Best Hand, Best Trophy, and Best Livestream awards.
Each of these three categories will also go through two rounds of public voting to determine a winner, though the preliminary list of nominees has already been shaped with input from the GPI's veteran panel of industry experts. Preliminary voting in these categories also runs through 11pm Vegas time on Monday, January 22, though the final rounds will follow a slightly different schedule, being opened on Tuesday, January 23 and running through 11pm on Monday, January 29.
In the Fans Choice - Best Hand category, the public can select from 14 of the best (and often craziest) poker hands of 2023. Video of each hand is available on the GPI voting page for the Best Hand category. The 14 initial nominees are:
- 1.13M POT between Tom Dwan and Doug Polk in the Million Dollar Game on HCL
- Biggest Bluff in Poker TV History?!? Rampage SHOVES ALL IN in Million Dollar Game
- Bill Perkins goes ALL-IN, but he’s late for a flight. So he leaves the table and leaves HANDZpoker to make 500K decision
- Craziest Pre-Flop Action of ALL TIME Triton Poker Series London
- Daniel Sepiol puts in three-barrel all-in shove
- Dwan v Wesley in the biggest pot in televised poker history
- Heartbreak in the Biggest World Series of Poker Main Event in History!
- Is this the sickest high stakes hand in poker history?! AA vs KK vs KK — $788K pot
- Kings vs Queens vs Jacks at $250,000 Super High Roller Final Table at WSOP
- The Biggest Pot in American TV Poker History! (at the time) Eric Persson vs Patrik Antonius
- The Craziest Poker Hand of the 2023 World Series of Poker
- With 3 remaining in the WPT Prime Championship and over $1.3 million up top — you won’t believe what just happened!
- Wow Joseph Hachem, just wow!
In the Best Trophy category, there are 10 preliminary nominees. Photos of the 10 are available for viewing on the Best Trophy public voting page, and they include many of the most beautiful and distinguished trophies in poker:
- Asian Poker Tour Taipei
- Los Angeles Poker Classic
- NAPT Las Vegas
- PGT U.S. Poker Open
- Poker Dream Malaysia
- Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
- Triton Poker Series
- Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup
- WSOP Main Event
- Wynn Millions
In the Best Livestream category, the public may select from eight popular and well-known livestreams that represent many of the powerhouses of the poker-streaming market:
- Poker Night in America - Studio 52
- Poker at the Lodge
- Triton Poker
- GGpoker
- Hustler Casino Live
- PokerGO
- World Poker Tour
- PokerStars Live
The winners in all four categories will be announced as part of the 2023 GPA ceremony on February 24 at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
