Poker Central Shines at Star-Studded American Poker Awards

The 4th annual American Poker Awards took place on Thursday night and Poker Central shined at the West Hollywood-based event. The Andaz Hotel served as the perfect setting for both on and off-the-felt professionals and personalities to celebrate the year that was in poker. In total, twenty of poker’s best were honored and Poker Central took home four awards.

Cary Katz booked Poker Central’s biggest win of the night, when he was named Poker’s Biggest Influencer. Katz, who founded Poker Central and PokerGO, while also redefining the high stakes tournament landscape, got the nod ahead of Daniel Negreanu, Doug Polk, and Matt Savage.

While Negreanu and Polk were kept off the winner’s list, despite a handful of nominees between them, Matt Savage picked up an American Poker Award for the third-straight year. Savage, who has been one of poker’s top industry experts for decades, won Industry Person of the Year for the second time.

Andrew Neeme is also a two-time APA winner, although his victories each came this year. Neeme was named Video Blogger of the Year and won the People’s Choice Award. Over 10,000 fans voted to crown a champion in that category, which was featured at the American Poker Awards for the first time.

The Poker Central Podcast, which debuted in 2017, was awarded Podcast of the Year. Each week, Remko Rinkema, Brent Hanks, and Will O’Connor discuss a wide variety of topics from the poker world.

While the Poker Central Podcast’s takes earned them their nod, Nick Schulman’s expert commentary earned him his award. Schulman, who called the Super High Roller Bowl and was a mainstay during PokerGO and ESPN’s WSOP coverage this past summer, won Broadcaster of the Year. Commentary legends Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, who were also nominated for Broadcaster of the Year, were awarded the APA’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poker.

Lance Bradley won Journalist of the Year, after winning his first APA trophy in 2017, while Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story won Media Content of the Year. Other honors included Scott Blumstein winning Tournament Performance of the Year, thanks to his WSOP Main Event victory, Ema Zajmovic winning Moment of the Year, for becoming the first female player to win an open WPT event, Jamie Staples winning Poker Streamer of the Year, and partypoker MILLIONS North America winning Event of the Year.

A complete list of American Poker Award winners can be found here and a replay of the awards presentation can be found here.