The 2013 European Poker Awards nominees have been announced, with the ceremony set to take place at the Elysee Biarritz in Paris, France on January 22, 2013. This year will see a scaled-down version of the European Poker Awards voting process, with one of the major categories removed from the popular award ceremony, which is now in its 12th year of existence. Missing from the list is the Poker Player of the Year Award (which is now awarded to the Top European poker player on the Global Poker Index) and as always there aren’t any nominees for the Lifetime Achievement Award, an award that is historically decided by the judges alone.
The ceremony will be hosted by Kara Scott (a nominee herself) and will be part of the Euro Finals of Poker tournament Series in Paris. The judges’ panel for the 2013 European Poker Awards includes: Nic Szeremeta, Stephan Gollubits, Jérôme Schmidt, Barry Carter, Joe Beevers, Alexandre Dreyfus, Michael Michelin and Jesse May.
Here is a look at the nominees in each category:
Player of the Year:
Winner, Marvin Rettenmaier
Rookie of the Year Nominees:
• Gaëlle Baumann
• Lucille Cailly
• Aubin Cazals
• Ole Schemion
My Pick – Ole Schemion, who emerged as a Player of the Year candidate in 2012
Best Tournament Performance Nominees:
• Davidi Kitai
• Rocco Palumbo
• Marvin Rettenmaier
• Ole Schemion
• Sam Trickett
My Pick, Sam Trickett for his runner-up finish in the Big One for One Drop
Europe’s Leading Lady Nominees:
• Gaëlle Baumann
• Liv Boeree
• Lucille Cailly
• Elisabeth Hille
My Pick – Lucille Cailly, who had 1 WPT cash; 1 WSOP cash; and 3 EPT cashes including a runner-up in the Grand Final
Internet Player of the Year Nominees:
• Viktor Blom
• Jens Kyllönen
• Chris Moorman
• Ilari Sahamies
My Pick – A horse race between the cash game star Kyllonen and the tournament star Moorman
Poker Staff Person of the Year Nominees:
• Dave Brannan
• Nicolas Fraioli
• Neil Johnson
• Simon Trumper
My Pick – Simon Trumper for his work at the Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club
Rob Gardner Memorial Award for the Poker Personality of the Year Nominees:
• Neil Channing
• Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
• Tony Guoga
• Gus Hansen
• Marvin Rettenmaier
• Kara Scott
My Pick – Can we finally give Tony G some love?
Best European Event of the Year Nominees:
• EPT Barcelona
• Irish Poker Open
• Prague Poker Festival
• WSOPE Cannes
My Pick – Prague takes the trophy
Lifetime Achievement Award Past Winners:
• 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award – Jesse May
• 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award – Nic Szeremeta
• 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award – Bruno Fitoussi
• 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award – Marcel Luske
• 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award – Thomas Kremser
• 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award – John Duthie
• 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award – Dave Colclough
• 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award – Dave Ulliott
• 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award – Lucy Rokach
• 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award – Liam Flood
• 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award – Pascal Perrault
My Pick – This award could go to a number of people, but I’ll stick with my #1 choice for the Poker Hall of Fame, Terry Rogers.
