Yorky Pud

Season 7 of the European Poker Tour came to a thrilling climax at the felt with Ivan Freitez winning the Main Event and Jason Mercier taking down the High Roller tournament but it was in the world famous Pacha nightclub that the majority of players and press were interested in as the EPT Award Ceremony took place.

For the majority of Season 7 it has been a forlorn conclusion that Fernando Brito was going to win the Player of the Year Award as the Brazilian businessman seemed to make it to the money, or win, a tournament on every stop of the EPT. Brito, 52-year old, is now a permanent fixture on the European Poker Tour and in Season 7 alone he cashed a total of 16 times, including a sixth place finish at EPT London and he even managed to win six side events! An amazing set of performances from Brito.

Upon accepting his award Brito said, “We can only sing victory when it's achieved, so I didn't believe I had won until yesterday when I cashed in the Grand Final Main Event. I am very thankful to my family and friends – I couldn't have done this without them.” The Portuguese-born Brito has now won close to $820,000 is is second in the all-time money listing for Portugal behind Joao Barbosa.

The Online Qualifier of the Year award was never going anywhere else except Martin Jacobson, the talented player cashing in five Main Events, including three final tables and two runner-up finishes in EPT Deauville and EPT Vilamoura. Jacobson's consistency saw him finish second to Brito in the player of the year section.

The Omaha Player of the Year gong went to Dario Alioto who made the final table of three PLO events this year, had five cashes in total and an outright win. The Italian was pushed all the way by John O'Shea, who picked up the award for Best Country later in the night as Ireland's 70 entrants managed to make it to the money 16 times, the highest percentage of any competing nation on the EPT.

Apart from the Player of the Year award, the two most prestigious titles players on the circuit can receive are the EPT Achievement and the Players' Choice. Both of these awards went to Germany's Max Heinzelmann after he endeared himself to the eligible voters by finishing second in back-to-back events in Berlin and San Remo, results that netted him €1,100,000. Upon accepting his awards Heinzelmann simply put, “This means a lot to me. I'm very happy.”

Full List of Award

Player of the Year: Fernando Brito
Omaha Player of the Year: Dario Alioto
Mixed Game Player of the Year: Matthew Ashton
Heads-up Player of the Year: Diogo Veiga
Country of the EPT: Ireland
Online qualifier of the year: Martin Jacobson
EPT Achievement of the Year: Max Heinzelmann
Players' Choice: Max Heinzelmann