The World Poker Awards is not going to return in 2026, organizers introduced Thursday, citing the “period of time it takes to organize and produce the occasion” as the first cause for the cancellation.
In a joint assertion, the World Poker Index (GPI) and The Hendon Mob (THM), who co-run the Awards, would affirm the annual occasion wouldn’t return in early 2026 however reassured followers and gamers that “the GPI/THM workforce will proceed to reward the winners of our varied races, together with the GPI Participant of the 12 months and The Hendon Mob Award.”
The primary incarnation of the World Poker Awards came about in Europe in 2001, earlier than transferring to Los Angeles in 2014, and eventually settling on the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Las Vegas since 2019.
The sixth version, held in Las Vegas this previous February, noticed a complete of 38 awards introduced, honoring everybody from the sport’s biggest gamers to media expertise and business professionals.
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Commenting on the explanation for the cancellation of the Awards, Eric Danis, President of the World Poker Index and The Hendon Mob Poker Database, stated, “We’re a really small workforce and the awards course of as an entire takes two members of our workforce out of the day-to-day operations for 2 months yearly.”
Reflecting on the legacy of the awards, Danis added, “Should you had informed a youthful me that I might be a part of a workforce organizing awards ceremonies in France, Monte Carlo, Malta, the Sundown Strip… and eventually Las Vegas, I would not have believed you.”
“We’re definitely going to overlook placing on an incredible present”
“We’re definitely going to overlook placing on an incredible present, however now we have initiatives which have taken precedence over the awards,” he concluded.
The assertion additionally went on to thank the various “gifted people who’ve hosted the ceremonies,” together with well-known figures similar to Maria Ho, Joe Stapleton, and Jeff Platt.
Lastly, it was confirmed that each the GPI Participant of the 12 months and The Hendon Mob Award will nonetheless crown champions “to acknowledge the extraordinary accomplishments” of the successful gamers.
With round a month and a half left within the calendar 12 months, the GPI Male Participant of the 12 months race is shaping as much as be an exhilarating three-way battle between Jesse Lonis, Artur Martirosian, and Punnat Punsri, all tied on round 4,300 factors every.
In the meantime, the race for GPI Ladies’s Participant of the 12 months appears to be like simpler to foretell, with Kristen Foxen holding a snug lead after a stellar 12 months to this point that has noticed her rise to the highest of the Ladies’s All-Time Cash Record.
Eliot Thomas
Editor, Poker & On line casino
