In celebration of the poker industry, the 4th Annual American Poker Awards were held Thursday night in West Hollywood. A total of 20 awards were given out in a wide variety of categories, and the World Poker Tour was proudly involved with the acceptance of four of those awards.
WPTDeepStacks lived up to its tagline as poker’s premier mid-major tournament circuit by walking away with the Mid-Major Tournament Circuit of the Year award. WPTDeepStacks produced a record-setting season in 2017, both in terms of total entries and total prize pool, and continued to raise the standard of mid-major poker events.
The 2018 season of WPTDeepStacks kicked off in January and is already off to a roaring start. To find a WPTDeepStacks event near you, check out the schedule on WPT.com.
Highly respected industry stalwart Matt Savage, executive tour director for the World Poker Tour, took home the honors for Industry Person of the Year. It was the second time Savage has walked away with the award, further cementing his legacy in the poker world as one of the game’s most important figures. Savage first won the award at the 2nd Annual American Poker Awards held in 2015.
Art Papazyan, two-time WPT champion and current frontrunner in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race, scored the award for Breakout Player of the Year. In a five-week span during Season XVI of the World Poker Tour, Papazyan won two WPT titles. Papazyan came out of nowhere in 2017, first by winning the WPT Legends of Poker for $668,000 and then winning WPT Maryland at Live! Casino for $389,000.
Finally, Ema Zajmovic’s victory at WPT Playground in the first half of 2017 earned her the award for Moment of the Year. Zajmovic topped a field of 380 entries to become the first female player to win an open event on the WPT Main Tour.
Congratulations to WPTDeepStacks, Savage, Papazyan, Zajmovic, and all others who were honored at the 4th Annual American Poker Awards.
*Photo courtesy of GPI / American Poker Awards.