Global Poker Awards predictions

Barry Carter turns pundit and shares his thoughts on who will win this year at poker's version of the Oscars.

Next week the Global Poker Awards takes place and I had the time this week to make my predictions of who I think will win. Below I have bolded the name of the nominee I expect to win and added my reasons below. I have left out any categories where I don't have a strong opinion. 

Players’ Choice for Toughest Opponent

• Brian Altman (USA)
• Stephen Chidwick (England)
• Alex Foxen (USA)
• Stephen Song (USA)

This was always going to be the contest between the kings of the staredown, Foxen and Chidwick, but his first bracelet and being the whistleblower for the Ali Imsirovic cheating allegations makes me think Foxen wins this one. 

Best Final Table Performance 

• Dan “Jungleman” Cates (USA) at WSOP Poker Players Championship
• Espen Jorstad (Norway) at WSOP Main Event
• Daniel Negreanu (Canada) at Super High Roller Bowl VII
• Stephen Song (USA) at WPT Prime Championship

Jungleman should win this, not only has he crushed back-to-back Players Championships he has done so in the most entertaining way possible. But this is not a 'who had the best performance' prediction it is who will the panel vote for. Daniel Negreanu will win because I believe he has more fans and friends on the typical voting panel and he gets more coverage to keep his win top of mind. 

GPI Breakout Player 

• Angela Jordison (USA)
• Espen Jorstad (Norway)
• Alejandro “PapoMC” Lococo (Argentina)
• Punnat Punsri (Thailand)
• Ethan “Rampage” Yau (USA)

I'd bet good money Angela Jordison wins this, she has clearly been the breakout player of the last two years and was unlucky to miss out on both the GPI Mid and GPI Women's titles. She is also well-liked and still crushing in 2023. 

Twitter Personality 

• Phil Galfond (USA)
• Will Jaffee (USA)
• Jamie Kerstetter (USA)
• Marle Spragg (USA)

People just like those 'Tough Conversation' Twitter videos, so much so he managed to get a PSPC Platinum Pass from them. Easy win for Jaffee in my opinion. 

Best Streamer 

• Kevin Martin (Canada)
• Benjamin Spragg (England)
• Jon Van Fleet (USA)
• Lex Veldhuis (Netherlands)

I have a belief that the panel is somewhat unknowledgeable about Twitch (as the Awards are very live poker centric) and they won't vote for last year's winner again. Kevin Martin has been very active recently so I think that 'top of mind' effect will see the panel vote for the guy they have seen a lot. He also deserves it very much in a very tough field. 

Best Vlogger

• Jaman Burton (USA)
• Mariano Grandoli (Argentina)
• Brad Owen (USA)
• Ethan “Rampage” Yau (USA)

Rampage has crushed at the tables and on YouTube with a very keen fanbase and a very recent big win, this is his year, it looks like an easy win for him. 

Rising Star in Content Creation 

• Natalie Bode (USA)
• Caitlin Comeskey (USA)
• Jesse Fullen (USA)
• Lexy Gavin-Mather (USA)

Caitlin Comeskey emerged from nowhere to give us all a laugh during the Robbi Jade Lew saga and has continued to do so since. I think she may be the only double award winner this year, starting here. 

Best Event 

• EPT Barcelona Main Event
• Triton Poker Coin Rivet Invitational
• WSOP Main Event
• WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas

The WPT Championship surprised everyone last year and made itself a genuine contender for the WSOP itself. It may genuinely position itself as a 'Summer WSOP' type of must-play event and it will easily win this award. 

Best Podcast

• Only Friends Podcast (Matt Berkey, Landon Tice, Conrad Simpson, etc.)
• Poker in the Ears for PokerStars (James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton)
• PokerGO Podcast (Tim Duckworth, Donnie Peters, Remko Rinkema)
• The Chip Race Poker Podcast (David Lappin, Dara O’Kearney, Barry Carter)

The Only Friends guys are very popular and they also piss a lot of people off with their show, so it comes down to if they have more fans than haters on the panel. They are a relatively new show and produce more episodes than any of the other podcasts combined, so I think that swings it for them. The awards are also very America-centric and I presume the panel is, so for that reason I can't see the more European-facing past winners of The Chip Race or Poker in the Ears reclaiming their title. 

Best Media Content: Video

• Caitlin Comeskey (USA) (parody of J4 investigation)
• Joey Ingram (USA) (J4 emergency investigation)
• Greg “Greg Goes All In” Liow (Canada) (voice overs in poker vlogs)
• Marle Spragg (USA) (solvers)

It will be odd if Joey Ingram wins this one because of how polarising the whole J4-gate was. Some people will think his investigation exposed Robbi Jade Lew as a cheat, others will think it was a witch hunt against her. For this reason, I think a parody of the J4-gate wins it for a Caitlin Comeskey double. 

Best Media Content: Photo

• Antonio Abrego (USA) for PokerGO (Cates wins WSOP bracelet)
• Heyley Hockstetler (USA) for WSOP (Glantz wins $1M bounty)
• Alec Rome (USA) for PokerNews/WSOP (Schindler alone in victory)
• Spenser Sembrat (USA) for PokerNews/WSOP (Sembrat on feature table)

The other three are objectively cooler pictures and more artistic, but there is something so visceral about the image of the moment Matt Glantz won a million dollars it makes me think that one is the winner this year. 

The awards will be broadcast live on PokerGO on March 3. 

Who do you think should win? Let us know in the comments: