Gulf Coast Poker Award Winners: Saleh, Whittington & Waaland Among Winners
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Earlier this month, the inaugural Gulf Coast Poker Awards honored players and industry professionals from the south while at the Poker Gras tournament at Harrah’s New Orleans. GulfCoastPoker.net recognized winners in eight categories including Yousef "Joe" Saleh (pictured above) as Player of the Year.
Fittingly, Saleh showed it was justified by winning the Poker Gras $600 Main Event for $34.195. It was the latest score for Saleh this year which includes $34,650 for winning the RGPS Tunica and $36,895 for taking down the HPT Vicksburg.
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) |
How'd They Get There?
To be eligible, nominees had to 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. The pool of nominations was submitted by tournament directors, staff, poker media, and players spanning the region.
The awards ceremony, which was sponsored by Maker’s Mark (players got to enjoy the Maker's Mark Bust-Out Lounge), took place during the Poker Gras Main Event. Many nominees were in attendance, and others flew in from afar including Alison Hollander and nominee Johnny Pham, who came in from bestbet Jacksonville to accept Jesse Hollander's Industry Professional of the Year award.
For Robbie Matthews, he claimed “Senior of the Year” due largely to winning both $250 Senior Events at the World Series of Poker Circuit stop at the IP Biloxi last December for more than $17K and a pair of gold rings.
For Break-Out Player of the Year, Josh Thibodaux came out of nowhere by winning w WSOP Circuit ring at the Harrah’s New Orleans stop and then a month later finished fifth in the summer’s WSOP Millionaire Maker for a career-high $350,758.
The Gulf Coast Poker Awards are slated to return next year, and there’s talk of organizers hosting either a luncheon or perhaps an even more formal ceremony.
Here are some shots from the awards courtesy of GulfCoastPoker.net.
