Name: The European, then American, then Global Poker Awards.
Age: 24… sort of.
Appearance: The poker industry’s annual shindig, hosted in a room filled with shiny trophies, shiny outfits and — once the bar’s open — a few shiny faces.
Poker awards, you say? Is Player Notes finally getting recognized on the world stage? Unlikely, I’m afraid.
Why not? We have just as much chance of winning a Global Poker Award as anyone else this year! That’s true, but not for the reason you think it is. The Global Poker Index has announced that the Global Poker Awards will not be returning in 2026, citing the time and resources it takes to prepare for the event.
I can’t believe it. These awards have been a part of my life for who knows how long. Actually, it’s been just 7 years… ish. The first Global Poker Awards took place in 2018, but they skipped the 2020 event, thanks to COVID.
Surely not just 7 years? I’ve got debts older than that. That’s when the global awards were launched — prior to that there were the European Poker Awards from 2001-2015, then the American Poker Awards from 2015-2017.
European Poker Awards? I bet it took so long to announce the winners, the audience called the clock. Harsh. The EPAs may have ended a decade ago, but they honored plenty of people you’ll have heard of, including some at the start of what would be stellar careers. Patrik Antonius (2005), Ole Schemion (2012) and Adrian Mateos (2013), for example, all won Rookie of the Year awards. Between them they now have over $106 million in recorded tournament earnings.
What about the American Poker Awards? They didn’t last long, but they were equally as star-studded. The likes of Daniel Negreanu, Bryn Kenney and Nick Schulman all have APA trophies in their collections — alongside plenty of other hardware, of course.
What have been some of the highlights since the awards went global? You mean, aside from the open bar in the PokerGO Studio? The rise of streaming has seen players like Lex Veldhuis and Ben Spragg celebrated — both members of the PokerOrg Player Advisory Board — plus there have been awards for all-time legends such as Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Mike Sexton, while media content and poker journalism has also seen some deserving names given their moment in the spotlight.
About time too. Like I said, you’ve missed your chance, but PokerOrg’s Sarah Herring and Brad Willis each picked up Journalist of the Year at least once. Then there was 2018, when Alex Foxen and Kristen Bicknell won male and female players of the year, respectively. Four years later, they would be married to each other (Alex and Kristen, that is — not Brad and Sarah).
These awards recognized the up-and-comers as well as the older generation, and have even seen romance blossom between the winners. What can possibly replace it? That’s a good question, but we’re just going to have to wait and see. The GPI Player of the Year and Hendon Mob Award will still get dished out each year, but for now they’ll probably be delivered by courier rather than at a swanky awards ceremony with, let’s face it, a dangerously open bar.
Do say: “And the winner is…”
Don’t say: “...sobriety.”
