PokerStars/EPT Well Represented at Tonight's European Poker Awards
Day 3 of the European Poker Tour Malta Main Event is taking center stage this afternoon, but tonight, after players have bagged and tagged, attention will shift to the 14th Annual European Poker Awards (EPA). The awards, organized by the Global Poker Index, will be held next door at the luxurious Hilton Hotel, marking the first time in its history that it hasn't been held in France.
The EPA is sponsored by PokerStars and Roger Dubuis, and will recognize players, industry figures, and events by doling out 13 awards to those who contributed the most to the growth of the game in 2014.
For instance, Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree will be honored as the GPI Female Player of the Year, while EPT regular Ole Schemion will take down GPI Player of the Year honors. Interestingly, both PokerStars and the EPT have strong ties to other categories.
EPT Live commentary is nominated for Media Content of the Year (other nominees include: Nosebleed documentary by Victor Saumont; Neil Stoddart's pictures; and Remko Rinkema's videos), while EPT President Edgar Stuchly is nominated for Industry Person of the Year (alongside Hermance Blum, General Manager WPT Europe; King's Casino Leon Tsoukernik; and Dusk Till Dawn owner Rob Young).
Likewise, PokerStars' Helping Hands Charity Tournament and partner Right to Play, Quintessentially Foundation are two of the nominees in Charitable Initiative of the Year (along with REG Charity and WPT UK Charity Raffle), and Shark Cage has been nominated for Poker Innovation of Initiative of the Year (along with Expresso, Winamax Poker; Unibet launching its own gaming platform; and the WPT 500 expanding into new markets).
Regarding Events of the Year, EPT Main Event in Barcelona, Prague and Vienna earned nominations in the buy-in €2,000+ category (the other nominee being Master Classics of Poker Amsterdam), while the Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona and Eureka Poker Tour Prague got the nod in buy-ins up to €2,000 (the other two being Battle of Malta and WPT500 at Dusk Till Dawn).
Meanwhile, reigning World Series of Poker Player of the Year and Team Pro George Danzer is nominated for Breakout Player of the Year alongside PokerStars-Sponsored Player Dominik Panka, EPT Grand Final runner-up Jack Salter; and EPT Deauville third-place finisher Oliver Price.
"Definitely excited," Panka told PokerNews on the last break. "It's like poker's Oscars. I'm very flattered that I am nominated."
Panka is also nominated for Tournament Performance of the Year for his victory in the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where he denied Mike "Timex" McDonald his second EPT title.
"I think Tournament Performance of the Year seems better than Breakout Player of the Year, but I think Martin Jacobson, Davidi Kitai, and Vicky Coren played amazing final tables. I can't imagine they will pick me," Panka admitted. "To be honest, I think I have a decent shot at Breakout Player of the Year. No expectations, just fun."
Regardless of whether or not he makes it through Day 3, Panka confirms that he will be attending the awards ceremony scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
"I told them I would go, and I'm a man of my word," Panka deadpanned.
With two nominations, Panka has double the chances of walking away with an award, but as he pointed out, he faces some stiff competition. In the Breakout Tournament Performance of the Year category, that includes Jacobson, the reigning WSOP Main Event champ who overcame a field of 6,683 players to win the $10,000,000 first-place prize.
"Just to be nominated, out of all the tournaments, my performance is nominated," said Jacobson, who is also in the money here in the EPT Malta Main Event. "That's pretty cool itself, so to win it would be awesome."
Jacobson also took a moment to reflect back on his performance in the WSOP Main Event: "It was very consistent until the last day, which was the first big pot I lost, when I dropped to fourth to eighth in chips. Then the final table bubble burst right after that. Then I just did a lot of work before the final table to make sure I was prepared as possible. The final table went really smooth as well obviously."
Jacobson confirmed that he will also be at the awards ceremony, though right now his focus is on surviving Day 3. Before we let him get back to it, we had to know, if he won an European Poker Award, would his display it next to his WSOP gold bracelet?
"I haven't managed to get it back to Europe yet," Jacobson said with a laugh, revealing that the bracelet is still in Vegas. That said, if he wins an EPA, or the EPT Main Event trophy for that matter, don't count on him leaving it behind in Malta!
PokerNews will be attending the European Poker Awards, so be sure to stay tuned in the coming days for results, videos, and more.