Hosted by the Aviation Club in Paris, the ceremony is scheduled for January 25th and will present awards in nine distinct categories ranging from Player of the Year to Best European Event.
2011 WSOP Main Event champion Pius Heinz finds himself up for awards in three different categories thanks to his $8.7 million victory in Las Vegas this November.
Sam Trickett led an unbelievable year for UK players and is up for two awards after earning over $4.5 million in 2011. His year was highlighted by a €1 million win at the Partouche Poker Tour’s main event and first and second-place finishes in the $100k and $25k High Roller events at the Aussie Millions, respectively.
Jake Cody is nominated for Player of the Year and Best Tournament Performance based on a 2011 that included his first WSOP bracelet in the $25k Heads-Up Championship, making him one of just four players to complete poker’s Triple Crown. He also won a GUKPT event and scored final table finishes at the WSOP Europe main event and the GUKPT Grand Final.
One very noticeable exception on the list of nominations is the UK’s Chris Moorman who, while nominated, only got the nod for Internet Player of the Year.
Moorman was on fire in 2011 and recorded $2.32 million in live results, including runner-up finishes in the WSOP Europe Main Event and the $10k WSOP Six-Max Championship in Vegas. He also notched a third-place finish in another WSOP event, and a final table at the 2011 Aussie Millions main event.
In fact, Moorman had a more lucrative year than Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, who is included on the list of nominations for Player of the Year.
Voting will be conducted by a panel of expert judges that includes poker player and host Kara Scott, veteran members of the poker media like Jerome Schmidt and Barry Carter, poker pro Juha Helppi and Honorary President of the European Poker Awards Nic Szeremeta.
Here are the nominations in full:
Player of the Year
Jake Cody (England) Bertrand “Elky”Grospellier (France) Pius Heinz (Germany) Eugene Katchalov (Ukraine) Andrey Pateychuk (Russia) Sam Trickett (England)Best Tournament Performance
Jake Cody (England) Pius Heinz (Germany) Fabrice Soulier (France) Benny Spindler (Germany) Sam Trickett (England)Rookie of the Year
Adrien Allain (France) Pius Heinz (Germany) Sam Holden (England) Oleksii Kovalchuk (Ukraine) Andrey Pateychuk (Russia)Europe’s Leading Lady
Liv Boeree (England) Victoria Coren (England) Nesrine Kourdourli (France) Barbara Martinez (France) Natalia Nikitina (Russia) Cecilia Pescaglini (Italy)Poker Staff Person of the Year
Nicolas Fraioli (Tournament Director at the Aviation Club de France, France) Warren Lush (International Public Relation Department Bwin Party, England) Edgar Stuchly (EPT President, Austria) Kirsty Thompson (President of the UKIPT,England) Simon Trumper (Dusk Till Dawn Live Poker Director, England)Internet Player of the Year
Jude Ainsworth (Ireland) Viktor Blom (Sweden) Rui Cao (France) Chris Moorman (England) Ilari Sahamies (Finland)Rob Gardner Memorial Award for the Poker Personality of the Year
Barny Boatman (England) Neil Channing (England) Bertrand “Elky”Grospellier (France) Tony Guoga (Lithuania) Jesse May (Denmark)Best European Event of the Year
EPT London International Poker Open Dublin Finale du Partouche Poker Tour WPT Grand Prix de Paris WSOPE CannesLifetime Achievement Award
To be determined by the voting panel.
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