Nominees announced for 3rd Annual Global Poker Index American Poker Awards

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Global Poker Index has released the nominees in 9 categories for the Third Annual GPI American Poker Awards ceremony that will be held on Thursday, 23 February 2017 in Los Angeles.

WPT Ambassador Mike Sexton's magical 2016, both on and off the felt, sees him pick up a record three nominations: "Tournament Performance of the Year" and "Poker Moment of the Year", for his thrilling comeback victory at WPT Montreal in November; and "Media Content of the Year" for "Life's a Gamble," a book Sexton released in 2016.

Tournament grinders Ari Engel and Maurice Hawkins will battle in two categories, each receiving nominations for "Tournament Performance of the Year" and "Breakout Performance of the Year." PocketFives President and Editor in Chief Lance Bradley is also nominated in two different media categories.

2016 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year, Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, and 2016 GPI Player of the Year David Peters could also be presented with trophies for their accomplishments on the night of the event. The duo could add more hardware at the Awards as they are both up for "Poker Moment of the Year."

Meanwhile, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT) will battle the Super High Roller Bowl and the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open for "Event of the Year."

The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT), Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT), WPTDeepStacks and the WSOP Circuit are all in contention for the inaugural "Mid-Major Circuit of the Year" Award.

A nomination panel consisting of over 70 of the brightest minds in the poker world (players, industry members, tournament organizers, casino staff and sponsors) cast their votes online last week to determine the final list of four nominees that will be presented to the Jury Panel on the morning of the ceremony. The winners will be announced and trophies will be presented on stage during the dinner ceremony on Thursday, 23 February 2017, starting at 8 p.m. PT, at the Sofitel Beverly Hills.

Tournament performance of the year

• Kristen Bicknell, WSOP No Limit Hold'em Bounty
• Ari Engel, Aussie Millions Main Event
• Maurice Hawkins, WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event
• Mike Sexton, WPT Montreal

Moment of the year

• Griffin Benger's AA vs William Kassouf's KK showdown in the WSOP Main Event
• Jason Mercier goes on historic one-week heater at the World Series of Poker
• David Peters, needing 3rd at EPT Prague to take GPI PoY from Fedor Holz, does exactly that
• Mike Sexton mounts incredible comeback to win first WPT title in Montreal

Breakout performance of the year

• Ari Engel
• Maurice Hawkins
• Ankush Mandavia
• Sam Soverel

Event of the year

• Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, Seminole Hard Rock & Casino Hollywood, Florida
• Super High Roller Bowl, Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas
• WSOP Main Event, Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas
• WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Bellagio, Las Vegas

Mid-major circuit of the year

• Heartland Poker Tour
• Mid-States Poker Tour
• WPTDeepStacks
• WSOP Circuit

Industry person of the year

• Tony Burns, Seminole Hard Rock Tournament Director
• Jack Effel, WSOP VP Intl' Poker Operations & WSOP Director
• Sean McCormack, ARIA Director of Poker Operations
• Matt Savage, WPT Executive Tour Director & TDA Founder

Media person of the year

• Lance Bradley
• Sarah Herring
• Joseph Stapleton
• David Tuchman

Podcast of the year

• Full Contact Poker (Daniel Negreanu)
• Poker Life Podcast (Joe Ingram)
• PokerNews Podcast (Herring, Parvis, Peters, Rinkema, Ryan)
• TwoPlusTwo Podcast (Terrence Chan, Ross Henry, Adam Schwartz)

Media content of the year

• Bob, Charlie and a Life-Changing WSOP Main Event Journey (Lance Bradley, PocketFives)
• Life's a Gamble (Mike Sexton)
• Stu Ungar's Last Chance Gone Wrong (Matthew Showell, PokerListings)
• Twitch coverage of the Aussie Millions (Jason Somerville)

Twitch streamer of the year

• Kevin Martin "KevinMartin987"
• Jason Somerville "jcarverpoker"
• Jaime Staples "PokerStaples"
• Parker Talbot "tonkaaaP"