GPI European Poker Awards Given Out to Players and Industry Leaders

The 13th annual GPI European Poker Awards have been given out in Deauville, France last week, honoring the best of the best.

One of the most beautiful French poker rooms, Le Casino Barrière in Deauville, France, was the setting for the 13th GPI European Poker Awards last week.

GPI European Poker Awards

• 18 awards given out to players and industry leaders

• Full Tilt Poker won the European Poker Event of the Year award

• The ceremony was held at French poker room, Le Casino Barrière in Deauville

All in all 18 awards have found their owners including professional poker players from Europe, industry leading operators, poker festival hosts, and poker dealers, who probably deserve awards most of all.

This time around Global Poker Index (GPI) was joined by Poker52 as co-hosts of the awards. Poker52 is one of the biggest online poker operators conducting business in full compliance with French gambling laws.

The GPI European Poker Awards winners

The biggest winners of the poker awards night were Ole Schemion of Germany, the 2013 GPI Player of the Year, who won the Live Tournament Player of the Year this time around. British legend, Barny Boatman, picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Adrian Mateos Diaz, WSOP Europe Main Event Winner, got the GPI National Spain Player of the Year award, and then picked up a second trophy of the day – Rookie of the Year.

Here’s the full list of winners:

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Poker Industry winners

What about the operators? They also deserve to be recognized and indeed they were. Full Tilt Poker, one of the best online poker sites in France and worldwide, has picked up an award for their Galway Festival – the European Poker Event of the Year.

The award was given out primarily to recognize the support Full Tilt Poker is providing for live poker – the mother of today’s poker scene. The Galway Festival is not only the biggest live poker event in Europe, but it’s also one of the most popular one with poker professionals worldwide.

The Full Tilt Poker Galway Festival took place from July 27, 2013 until August 12. The event featured a record number of poker tournaments including a long list of poker variants and tourney structures. Additionally, there was a bit of entertainment involved: poker pool tournaments, player parties and live music, and even backgammon events.

The Main Event of the festival was the UKIPT Galway Main Event with EUR 1,100 buy-in and a whopping EUR 1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. Alan Gold from Scotland took the honors in the big event.

Comments from the winners

Sarne Lightman, Head of Marketing at Full Tilt Poker, had the following to say about the award: “We’re thrilled to receive this prestigious award and be honored for running the best live poker event of 2013. We worked hard to design a festival which would cater to all poker players, be they high-rollers, tournament grinders or recreational players.”

He went on to add: “Full Tilt Poker prides itself on being the most innovative and player-friendly online poker room, and we’ll continue to offer the best poker experience, both live and online, throughout 2014 and into the future.”

Full Tilt Poker had another indirect award under their belt. A member of FTP’s elite Tour Ambassadors, Dermot Blain, has taken the Irish Poker Player of the Year honors. He has joined the team of FTP ambassadors during the Galway Festival last year.