Caitlin Comeskey, Donovan Dean, Denise Pratt, Wolfgang Poker, and The Lodge YouTube Channel are just some of the nominees across a half dozen categories at the 5th Annual Gulf Coast Poker Awards. The PokerNews Podcast is also nominated for “Content Provider of the Year”, an award they won back in 2020.
The awards were created in 2019 to offer regional recognition to players and industry professionals from the southern part of the United States. This year’s awards will recognize winners in eight categories from a pool of nominations submitted by tournament directors, staff, poker media, and players spanning the region.
“The GCP Awards were designed to recognize achievements and contributions by poker players, industry professionals, and content providers that shine a positive light on poker in the south,” GCP’s Bill Phillips previously told PokerNews. “We wanted to honor the people in the region, the birthplace of poker, who have put together a great year.”
To be eligible nominees must have a connection to the extended Gulf Coast Poker region, which includes the southeastern United States from eastern Texas, up to Arkansas, along Tennessee to North Carolina, and everything south of that.
Here are the awards to be given away during our Poker Gras at Caesar’s New Orleans. Poker Gras is running now through November 10th.
5th Annual Gulf Coast Poker Award Nominees
Note that a special “Love of Poker Award” will also be given this year.
| GCP Tour POY | Overall POY | GCP Female POY | GCP Senior POY | Content Provider of the Year | Industry Professional of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levi Carden | Joel Doney | Jaymie Virusio | James Atkinson | Eric Geller | Neal Atkinson |
| Cody Stanford | Even Benton | Rebekah Crosby | Stephen Bierman | Caitlin Comeskey | Chris Hight |
| Jaymie Virusio | Levi Carden | Chris Read | Clay Henry | Ben Mintz | Adam Nash |
| Mihail Karasoulis | Cody Stanford | Jessica Roberts | Mihail Karasoulis | Alex Loveless | Edana Ackless |
| Derek Normand | Matt Higgins | LeeAnn Moore | Kooroush Ghaedi | PokerNews Podcast | Jesse Hollander |
| Stephen Bierman | Denise Pratt | Nancy Decuers | Gerald Stogner | Ash Kardash | Paul Dutsch |
| Griffin Moore | Jaymie Virusio | Prissy Giroir | Louis Lipps | Wolfgang Poker | Brandon Campbell |
| Kane Keller | Maurice Hawkins | Denise Pratt | Charles Moore | Sherry Pluskota | PrincessFitzpatrick |
| David Chocheles | Jonathan Little | Starr Valdez | Donald Blocker | Don Dove | Stephanie Wooley |
| Clay Henry | Shannon Shorr | Susan Faber | Jodie Menard | The Lodge YouTube | Dan Higginbotham |
| Jerry Giroir | Dale Rousel | Meg Chapman | Loi Hoang | – | – |
| Alec Wilson | Trace Henderson | Jennifer Brown Germany | Dan Lowery | – | – |
| Louis Lipps | Donovan Dean | – | Joe Laro | – | – |
| Danny Coucet | Preston McEwen | – | Johnny Master | – | – |
| Alan Close | – | – | – | – | – |
| Erik Miller | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daniel Holmes | – | – | – | – | – |
Barstool’s Ben Mintz Hosts Gulf Coast Poker Awards; Caitlin Comeskey Among Winners
Past Gulf Coast Poker Award Winners
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2019 Player of the Year | Yousef “Joe” Saleh |
| 2019 Break-Out Player of the Year | Josh Thibodaux |
| 2019 Senior of the Year | Robbie Matthews |
| 2019 Most Consistent Tournament Player | Blake Whittington |
| 2019 Content Provider of the Year | Cory Waaland |
| 2019 Female Player of the Year | Irene Carey |
| 2019 Cash Game Player of the Year | Gui Zheng |
| 2019 Industry Professional of the Year | Jesse Hollander (bestbet Jacksonville) |
| 2020 Player of the Year | Joseph Hebert |
| 2020 Break-Out Player of the Year | Preston McEwen |
| 2020 Senior of the Year | Hamid Izadi |
| 2020 Content Provider of the Year | PokerNews Podcast |
| 2020 Female Player of the Year | Chris Read |
| 2020 Industry Professional of the Year | Justin Hammer |
| 2021/22 Love of Poker | David Hendrix |
| 2021/22 Player of the Year | Mark Davis |
| 2021/22 Industry Professional of the Year | Dennis Jones |
| 2021/22 Female of the Year | Kristen Deardorff |
| 2021/22 Senior of the Year | Lonny Weitzel |
| 2021/22 Content Provider of the Year | Ben Mintz |
| 2023 Love of Poker | Judy LeBlanc and Ross Leitz |
| 2023 Player of the Year | Preston McEwen |
| 2023 Tour Player of the Year | Cody Sanford |
| 2023 Senior of the Year | Jay Bishop |
| 2023 Female of the Year | Jaymie Virtusio |
| 2023 Industry Professional of the Year | Chase Haydel |
| 2023 Content Provider of the Year | Caitlin Comeskey |
PR & Media Manager
