On Friday evening, the crème of the poker world gathered together to honor those who made their mark on the game in 2019. The 2nd Annual Global Poker Awards, presented by the Global Poker Index, was the second gathering of what used to be the separate American and European Poker Awards. 25 members of the poker world received honors for their work in 2019, including one double award winner.
Ingram Wins Twice for Work in Postle Case
Noted podcaster/player Joey Ingram was the only member who took home two awards on the night. Ingram was honored with the Journalist of the Year Award for his work in breaking down the Mike Postle/Stones Live case. That groundbreaking work was also responsible for Ingram’s second award, for Media Content of the Year/Video.
While Ingram was the only person to receive two awards, several players were on hand to repeat as winners from the previous year. For the Player of the Year and the Female Player of the Year, poker “power couple” Alex Foxen and Kristen Bicknell repeated in each category. Bicknell, who also finished in the Top 20 on the overall POY, reached a notable achievement in that she has now won the Women’s POY for three consecutive years.
Foxen and Bicknell weren’t the only familiar faces. Repeating as Streamer of the Year was Lex Veldhuis, while Andrew Neeme picked up the Vlogger of the Year award for the second year consecutive. Media Content of the Year/Photography once again landed in the hands of Drew Amato, while the RUNGOOD Poker Series also grabbed the Mid-Major Tour/Circuit of the Year honors again.
Johnny Chan, ‘Miami’ John Cernuto Honored for Lifetime of Work
Two of the true immortals of the game of poker received accolades for their lifetime of work. First up was former World Champion Johnny Chan, who picked up the first Poker ICON Award. The Poker ICON Award replaced the Lifetime Achievement Award that used to be offered by the Global Poker Awards and, for this year’s ceremony, Chan was presented with the honor by fellow Poker Hall of Famer Mori Eskandani.
The second immortal honored was ‘Miami’ John Cernuto. The GPI’s Roland Boothby took over the dais to present Cernuto with The Hendon Mob award. Cernuto earned the award for becoming the first player ever to eclipse the 500 cash mark on the site. Since his first cash in 1987, Cernuto has racked up 517 cashes (including 2020), 45 wins and 356 Top Ten finishes in his illustrious career.
Robert Campbell Breakout Player, Phillip Hui Performance of the Year
There were several other notables that won a Global Poker Award trophy for 2020. They are:
Robert Campbell, Breakout Player of the Year
Phillip Hui, WSOP Poker Players’ Championship win, Final Table Performance of the Year
Jamie Kerstetter, Twitter Personality of the Year
Stephen Chidwick, Toughest Opponent (Players’ Choice)
Jennifer Shahade, The Grid, Podcast of the Year
Paul Phua, Triton Poker, Industry Person of the Year
Matt Savage, Tournament Director of the Year
PokerStars Players’ Championship, Bahamas, Event of the Year
Nick Schulman, Broadcaster of the Year
Martin Harris, Poker and Pop Culture, Media Content of the Year/Written
Jonathan Little, Poker Personality of the Year (People’s Choice)
Ryan Riess, 10-high all in call for win at EPT Monte Carlo final table, Hand of the Year (People’s Choice)
Congratulations to all the winners and kudos to the Global Poker Index for another well-done show!
