2015 American Poker Awards A Big Success

On Thursday, February 25th, the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills hosted the 2nd Annual American Poker Awards. The event was attended by players, media, and industry workers from the world of poker, and by the end of the night a total of 15 awards had been handed out across a variety of different categories.
Amongst the winners chosen by an 80 people plus panel, and then a special jury was PokerNews Editor-in-Chief, Donnie Peters, who was named the Media Person of the Year. Commenting after receiving the prestigious award, Peters said:
“I couldn’t be happier to have won the award for Media Person of the Year, but I’d be lying if I told you I expected it.. the other nominees in the category — Kevin Mathers, Jason Somerville, and Joey Ingram — are all very much deserving of the award for all they provide to our industry. Just being nominated in the company of that group was enough of a blessing.”
Two of the awards, however, were determined according to the players’ 2015 Global Poker Index results, with Byron Kaverman being named the GPI Player of the Year, and Kelly Minkin the 2015 GPI Female Player of the Year.
Players
GPI Female Poker: Kelly Minkin
GPI Player: Byron Kaverman
Breakout Performance: Josh Beckley
Tournament Performance: Anthony Zinno (WPT Fallsview/L.A. Poker Classic)
Moment: Daniel Negreanu (11th place exit from WSOP ME)
Lifetime Achievement: Mike Sexton
Industry
Event (up to $2,000): The WSOP Colossus
Event (over $2,000): WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Media Person: Donnie Peters (PokerNews)
Poker Innovation: WSOP.com Online bracelet event
Media Content: Joe Giron (photo of Negreanu WSOP bust out)
Charitable Initiative: Charity Series of Poker (Matthew Stout)
Poker Presenter: Kara Scott
Industry Person: Matt Savage (TDA, WPT)
Jury Award: Kevin Mathers (PocketFives)
Global Poker League Draft
Before the GPI sponsored awards ceremony, the Global Poker League draft was held, with the 12 GPL team managers subsequently choosing the first four picks of their respective teams. The Global Poker League pits teams of poker players against each other from cities across the Americas and Eurasia, with the action confined to a 20-foot see-through arena called “The Cube”. Commenting on last week’s GPL draft, Donnie Peters said:
“The draft room was buzzing with electricity, and if this is a sign of things to come for the league, then we should all be looking forward to its success. Alex Dreyfus and his team certainly set the bar high, but if you’re not ‘all in’ in this industry there will be no progression. Judging by the reaction of the community, I think it’s safe to say we’re all very much anticipating the first event.”