Carrying the torch for the European Poker Awards and American Poker Awards that , the Global Poker Index and The Hendon Mob have announced the third iteration of the Global Poker Awards.

The awards ceremony will take place on Friday, February 18, 2022, live from the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The event will be available exclusively on PokerGO. PokerGO and the GPI entered into a multi-year agreement in April.

The 2019 GPAs went off without a hitch, and the 2020 edition snuck in just before COVID lockdowns on March 9, 2020. Last year’s awards were canceled due to COVID.

Global Poker Awards Categories

A total of 26 awards are up for grabs during the 2022 festivities.

1. 2021 GPI Poker Player of the Year
2. 2021 GPI Female Player of the Year
3. 2021 GPI Mid-Major Player of the Year
4. 2021 PokerGO Tour Player of the Year
5. GPI Breakout Player
6. Best Final Table Performance
7. Best Event
8. Best Twitter Personality
9. Best Industry Person
10. Best Tournament Director
11. Best Streamer
12. Best Vlogger
13. Best Podcast
14. Best Broadcaster
15. Best Live Tournament Reporter
16. Best Media Content: Photo
17. Best Media Content: Video
18. Best Media Content: Written
19. Players Choice: Toughest Opponent
20. Best Hand
21. Best Trophy
22. People’s Choice for Poker Personality
23. Poker ICON
24. GPI Award of Merit
25. The Hendon Mob Achievement Award
26. Charitable Initiative

The Selection Process

The Global Poker Awards will use a six-step process to determine who will eventually walk away with a trophy in most categories.

First, the GPI will select panels for these categories (excluding POY rankings based on a mathematical formula, the fan and player choice awards, and the following four categories that the GPI/THM team will select: Poker ICON, GPI Award of Merit, The Hendon Mob Achievement Award, and Charitable Initiative).

Step 2 involves the creation of a potential nominees list. That will include input from the GPI team, the general public, and the selected panelists.

From there, the process moves on to Steps 3 and 4, which involves the panelists selecting up to five finalists (panelists cannot vote for themselves along with less severe restrictions on voting for coworkers), and the GPI using a mathematical model to create a list of at least eight finalists.

Step 5 is the final vote, with panelists asked to rank their top three choices, with a 1^st place vote garnering five points, a 2^nd place vote worth three points, and a 3^rd place vote worth a single point. Voters cannot vote for themselves, nor can they select their company or a coworker in the first place.

The final step of the process will see the GPI reveal the Top Four vote-getters (in no particular order) in January, with the winner announced at the award ceremony in February.

The GPI Banking on a Poker Comeback

Online poker is the forgotten form of gambling in the US, as sports betting and the allure of further online casino legalization capture most of the headlines. But poker isn’t dead. In fact, it could very well make a full recovery.

There are more reasons to be excited about online poker in the U.S. today than at any point since Black Friday.

It’s not going to be another 2000s boom, but poker can be a much-needed entry point, retention mechanic, and revenue generator for the broader U.S. online gambling biz

— Chris Grove (@OPReport)

Chris Grove’s tweet is about the news that Run It Once Poker is exiting international markets as it makes a play for the US market, and I suspect a possible acquisition from a major player to accelerate that process.