4th Annual American Poker Awards Concludes in Los Angeles

On February 22nd, the Annual American Poker Awards took place at the Andaz West Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, with 20 trophies handed out across a number of different categories. Now into its fourth year, the Global Poker Index (GPI) inspired award ceremony is sponsored by PokerStars, and each year honors the achievements of workers within the poker industry, as well as the players themselves.
In the latter category, Scott Blumstein collected the accolade for Tournament Performance of the Year after taking down the WSOP Main Event for $8.15 million, while Artur Papazyan was named the Breakout Player for picking up 2 WPT titles in 2017, including the WPT Legends of Poker for $668,692, and the WPT Maryland Live for $389,405.
Next, Bryn Kenney was honored with the GPI American Player of the Year award for dominating the tournament circuit throughout the year, including capturing five titles and $8,505,897 in winnings. Meanwhile, Kristen Bicknell was awarded the GPI Female Player of the Year title after a glorious year in which she earned $551,906, with her achievements including cashing in seven WSOP events, and taking down the $5,200 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $199,840.
In terms of industry workers, Lon McEachern and Norman Chad both received Lifetime Achievement in Poker Awards, while Matt Savage was named the Industry Person of the Year. Andrew Neeme, however, was the biggest story of the night after scooping two awards, namely the Video Blogger of the Year and the People’s Choice Award. Neeme won the latter accolade after receiving more than 10,000 votes from fans, in the process beating out other notable poker personalities such as Doug Polk, Daniel Negreanu and Jonathan Little. As Neeme later tweeted:
“MASSIVE thanks to everyone who voted in the American Poker Awards. When all the hours put into a project results in true value for the audience (entertainment, info, or whatever the case) it’s an awesome feeling.”
American Poker Award Winners
Industry Person of the Year: Matt Savage
Tournament Performance of the Year: Scott Blumstein
Lifetime Achievement in Poker: Lon McEachern and Norman Chad
Breakout Player: Artur Papazyan
Journalist of the Year: Lance Bradley
Broadcaster of the Year: Nick Schulman
Poker Streamer: Jaime Staples
PocketFives Legacy Award: Ari Engel
Jury Prize: Eric Danis
Poker’s Biggest Influencer: Cary Katz
2017 GPI American Player of the Year: Bryn Kenney
2017 GPI Female Player of the Year: Kristen Bicknell