15 Jan 12

The Top 5 Non-Profit Poker Accolades

Other than the prize money and the trophies at the end of a tournament, we highlight some of the most coveted accolades a poker player can receive in their career.

This week, Daniel Negreanu published his 2012 poker goals. Most of which featured him wanting to get the top spot in several all-time money or player of the year rankings.

Which makes us ask the question; other than the money and tournament titles, what are the greatest poker accolades a player can receive?

5. European Poker Award

There are a great number of poker award ceremonies these days, and poker awards in general sometimes come under criticism for their worth, because there are so many unknowns in the game, it is difficult to accurately judge who deserves to win.

Whatever your opinion, there is little doubt that the European Poker Award are the most prestigious of them all. Held every year at the Aviation Club in France, the awards are the oldest ones in the industry, and are about to enter their eleventh year. With awards for players and staff alike, they are always the most popular awards of the year.

The European Poker Awards are in their eleventh year

4. WSOP Hall of Fame

Fewer accolades in any industry are remembered longer than a hall of fame induction, and in poker it is no different. Established in 1979, the WSOP Hall of Fame has honoured some of the real icons of the game, including Erik Seidel, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, and Barry Greenstein.

The reason the hall of fame is perhaps not a little higher in this list, is that there is a clear (and understandable) disconnect between the inductees so far, and the post-Moneymaker generation that now makes up the vast majority of the poker community.

Of course it is perhaps a little too early to induct a durrrr into the hall of fame just yet, but with a new minimum age limit recently introduced of 40, it could be a very long time before the internet poker generation is represented. 

Honoring the icons of the game

3. WSOP Player of the Year

There are a great number of 'tournament player of the year' (POY) ranking systems, including the Bluff POY, Cardplayer POY, the Global Poker Index, Sharkscope, and the PocketFives leader board. Sharkscope and PocketFives are without doubt the most prestigious in the online SNG and MTT communities, but the former three live leader boards somewhat cancel each other out.

Even though it doesn't even cover an entire year, the most fiercely contested of all the live poker leader boards has to be the WSOP Player of the Year leader board. There is just something so much more special about the WSOP than anything else in tournament poker, and during the series, the WSOP POY is the next best thing to winning a bracelet.

2. Sponsorship

Not quite an accolade in the traditional sense, but few can argue that being sponsored is one of the most coveted status symbols in the game. Most players lucky enough to put pen to paper on a lucrative endorsement deal feel like they have 'made it', and those that haven't yet tend to view it as an unreachable, exclusive, members club which they want to belong.

Sponsorship is becoming even more coveted in the wake of Black Friday, as the temporary loss of the American online poker market has resulted in every poker room significantly tightening their sponsorship budgets.

Remind us who sponsors you again champ?

1. All-Time Money Leader

This could be a controversial submission, because of all the accolades mentioned, the all-time money rankings are perhaps the most misleading barometer of success. This is because it only accounts for the events a player has cashed in, and nothing to do with profit. The true profit will be a significantly lower for every single player on the list, and in some cases, it will actually be a loss.

But people like to quote big numbers, and even though we know what a flawed system it is for measuring success, it is very hard to argue against someone who can claim to have over $16 million in live tournament cashes, like current leader Erik Seidel. It is also very hard to argue against a top ten that includes names like Ivey, Negreanu, Hellmuth, Juanda, and Cunningham.

We know it isn't a perfect way to rank the poker elite and the players at the top of the list know it too, but it doesn't stop it from being one of the ultimate brags in poker.

$16,885,167 in winnings and still counting