It was party time, on Wednesday night, near the Champs Elysées for the European poker community: the eleventh edition of the European Poker Awards, sponsored by Poker52 Europa magazine and the Aviation Club de France, gathered the most prestigious crowd possible for its gala night.
During the afternoon, the jury (consisting of Kara Scott, Barry Carter, Mike Michelin, Juha Helppi, Jonathan Raab, Leon Groenewoud, Jan-Peter Jachtmann, Jonthan Raab, as well as honorary president & founder, Nic Szeremeta) discussed the nominees for couple hours before finding an agreement for each category.
The gala night began with the HendonMob/Poker52 Europa trophies, awarded by Bruno Benveniste (Poker52 Europa Magazine director) and two HendonMob co-founders, Barny Boatman and Joe Beevers. Big names of the European poker scene like ElkY or David Benyamine came to get their trophy on stage, applauded by the two hundred guests of the night.
At the end of the dinner, the worldwide-known magician Stephane Vanel, who had travelled from Las Vegas for this special occasion did an amazing show to launch the EPA award ceremony. The host Michelle Orpe thus invited all the winners to gather on stage to get their award:
• Rob Gardner Memorial Award: ElkY
• Poker Staff Person of the Year: Warren Lush
• Best European Event of the Year: WSOP-E Cannes
• Rookie of the Year: Andreiy Pateychuk
• Best Tournament Performance: Pius Heinz
• Internet Player of the Year: Ilarie Sahamies
• Europe’s Leading Lady: Natalia Nikitina
• Player of the Year: Sam Trickett
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Jesse May
