PokerStars is promoting its European Poker Tour (EPT) in a big way this season.

First came the announcement that the guaranteed prize to the winner of the London stop of the EPT would be a minimum £1 million.

Then the first-ever EPT Awards were announced. The objective of these awards is to honor the most exceptional performers in EPT Season 4, which ran from August 2007 to April 2008. The winners will be announced at a dazzling ceremony at Barcelona’s Opium Mar on September 9, just before EPT Season 5 kicks off with the Barcelona Open.

The EPT Awards will have winners in seven categories. Nominations for the contenders in five categories have already been announced. A panel of four poker experts will choose the winner in these five categories. For the remaining two categories the voting will be done by the general public or all EPT accredited media. There are no nominations in these categories. The only stipulation is that the players should have participated in EPT Season 4.

Voting can be done at the official EPT Awards voting site. Anyone can vote for the People’s Choice Award by providing his or her name, e-mail address and the player’s first name and surname. The suggested guidelines for this award are to vote for the “one player who you think stood out from the rest, played the best game or entertained the crowds most.” The EPT leader board and the searchable EPT database have been provided to help the voters. The Poker Writers Award is open for voting to members of the accredited media. The suggested guidelines in this case are to vote for “the player that you enjoyed writing about most during EPT Season 4. Who’s the player that always gave good interviews, made all the big moves and impressed you the most?” The voting will remain open till August 29, 2008.  

The five categories that will be handled by the panel are Best Newcomer, Best Performance, Best Overseas Player, Best PokerStars Qualifier and Player of the Year.

The judges in the panel are John Duthie, Lee Jones, Victoria Coren and John Caldwell. Duthie is the brain and the sweat behind the EPT having knowledge of both poker and TV production. He was the first player to win a million dollars in a televised poker tournament. Jones is the former PokerStars poker room manager who worked closely with the EPT. He is also a highly respected poker player and author, who now lives in North Carolina. Victoria is a player, writer and TV host. She is a member of Team PokerStars Pro. Her most memorable win was at the London stop in 2006 at the Victoria Casino. Caldwell is Editor-in-Chief of PokerNews, who is the official media partner of the EPT Awards. He spends about three months a year in Las Vegas.

Mike McDonald is the most nominated player having received nominations in all but the Player of the Year category. Annette Obrestad is the only woman nominee and is in the Best Newcomer category.

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