GPI Euro Poker Awards In-Depth: Rookie of the Year Nominees

We take an in-depth look at the Rookie of the Year nominees for the upcoming GPI European Poker Awards:

MAX ALTERGOTT 

Born ›› Germany
Resides ›› UK
Team ›› Free Agent

GPI# ›› 595  |  2013 PoY# ›› 413
GPI Points Scored in 2013: 317.70

Career ›› Wins: 2  |  Cashes: 3
Earnings ›› $2,554,876

Rising German star Max Altergott certainly knows how to make a splash. His very first cash on the live tournament circuit was surely a good one … €1,746,500 good! That’s right, Altergott’s first score on the live circuit was a victory in the 100K buy-in Super High Roller event at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. This wouldn’t be Altergott’s only win on tour in 2013. In October, he won the High Roller event at the WPT Grand Prix de Paris at the famed Aviation Club de France.

Participating in some of the biggest buy-in tournaments on Planet Earth in 2013, Altergott certainly played some of the best players poker has to offer, his two victories in high buy-in events certainly proves that Altergott isn’t going anywhere. Look for the German to continue his rise in 2014.

MATTHEW ASHTON 

Age ›› 25
Born ›› Liverpool, UK
Resides ›› Vancouver, BC
Team ›› Free Agent

GPI# ›› 170  |  2013 PoY# ›› 71
GPI Points Scored in 2013: 636.20

Career ›› Wins: 3  |  Cashes: 16
Earnings ›› $2,367,286

Matthew Ashton enjoyed one of the best seasons ever by a UK player on the live tournament circuit and is definitely the front-runner in the Rookie of the Year race. Despite having participated in some poker series prior to 2013, the young UK pro, who had built most of his bankroll through online play coming into the 2013 season, was moments away from winning the 2013 World Series of Poker Player of the Year title until Daniel Negreanu snagged it away from him at the very last minute.

Still, Ashton’s performance at the WSOP was certainly one for the ages. In Vegas, Ashton would cash four times, all Top 10 finishes, including a huge $1,774,089 USD win in the 50K Poker Players Championship. Ashton would then move on to earn another Top 10 finish in the 3K PLO Mixed Max event at WSOP Europe.

Ashton would also add a W in Monte Carlo, winning the 5K 8-game event at the EPT Grand Final

MARTIN FINGER 

Age ›› 23
Born ›› Frankenberg, GER
Resides ›› Vienna, AUT
Team ›› Free Agent

GPI# ›› 21  |  2013 PoY# ›› 25
GPI Points Scored in 2013: 773.30

Career ›› Wins: 4  |  Cashes: 30
Earnings ›› $3,835,374

It might be quite a surprise to see Finger on this list given his past success. But 2013 was definitely the year that Finger firmly placed himself amongst poker’s elite. The young German will be hard pressed to take the trophy away from any of his opponents, but, there is no doubt that Finger has arrived on the poker scene and he’s going nowhere anytime soon.

ADRIAN MATEOS DIAZ 

Age ›› 19
Born ›› Spain
Resides ›› Spain
Team ›› Free Agent

GPI# ›› 88  |  2013 PoY# ›› 53
GPI Points Scored in 2013: 673.94

Career ›› Wins: 3  |  Cashes: 13
Earnings ›› $1,673,761

Spaniard Adrian Mateos Diaz had an incredible 2013 season. Starting the year with a win in his home country of Spain at the Estrellas Poker Tour Madrid Main Event earning the first six-figure score of his career on the live tournament circuit. But the 19-year-old decided to save the best performance for last, defeating French superstar Fabrice Soulier heads-up to win the WSOP Europe Main Event in Enghien-les-Bains. Mateos Diaz would add €1,000,000 to his bankroll with the career win.

He would end the 2013 season finishing 93rd at EPT Prague.

SCHEMION WINS 2012 AWARD

2013 GPI Player of the Year Ole Schemion was crowned Rookie of the Year last year during the 12th edition of the GPI European Poker Awards.

Schemion, coming off a breakout campaign in 2012 which allowed him to win his first GPI European Poker Award, continued his journey towards poker’s elite in 2013, despite not being able to compete in events in the United States of America as he was still under 21 years of age.

Schemion’s successes continue as he has reached the #1 spot on the GPI300 with the latest weekly release of the GPI Rankings. Schemion, who is ranked #1 in the World for the second time of his career, has done so at the age of 21 … plenty of big things still to come from the young German wunderkind.

THE LOWDOWN

It will certainly be interesting to see if voters have Ashton running away with this award. Upon closer inspection however, Mateos Diaz’ big bracelet win at such a young age will surely make things interesting … it may also be impossible to overlook Altergott’s two big wins in 2013, especially the SHR EPT Grand Final victory.

The 13th Global Poker Index European Poker Awards will take place on January 29, 2014 at the “Salle des Ambassadeurs” at the Casino de Deauville as part of the EPT Deauville Festival. The event is presented by PokerStars and Lucien Barriere Hôtels et Casinos. Visit the European Poker Awards website for all the information!