PokerStars is launching the first European Poker Tour Awards, being held on the eve of EPT season Five’s 5 opening event in Barcelona. The ceremony will honour the best players and performances from the whole of EPT season 4, Team PokerStars Pro and poker legend, Daniel Negreanu will be hosting the awards alongside Gloria Balding.

The EPT Barcelona Open is being held at the Gran Casino Barcelona from September 10-14 2008 with the EPT Awards ceremony taking place at the stylish Opium Mar in Barcelona, on September 9, 2008. The launch of the EPT Awards follows the enormous success of the PokerStars.com Scandinavian Poker Awards which takes place annually in Copenhagen.

There are seven EPT award categories, including two where the voting is open to either the general public or to all EPT accredited media. An expert panel of judges will preside over the remaining five categories, with the winners in all seven awards being announced at the much-anticipated ceremony on September 9.

The People’s Choice Award and the Poker Writer’s Award will open to voting on the official EPT website; www.ept.com/awards/index.html from August 18 - 29, 2008. The People's Choice Award will be open to all, and has been described by EPT Executive Producer John Duthie as "the public's chance to pick any player who competed in EPT Season 4, and vote for them to win this special award." The Poker Writer’s Award invites all accredited media to vote for the player they have most enjoyed writing about or interviewing during EPT Season 4. Voting for both these categories will remain open until August 29, 2008.

The remaining five categories are:
Best Newcomer
Best Performance
Best Overseas Player
Best PokerStars Qualifier
Player of the Year

There are five nominees in each category, and an expert panel of four judges will make their decisions based on each nominee’s performance during EPT season 4, with the winners being announced on the night. Among those up for an award are: Norwegian Trond Erik Eidsvig, who made three final tables in his first EPT season, Briton Julian Thew, who won EPT Baden, Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier from France, who won the PCA, and Hungarian Denes Kalo who came 2nd in two EPT events including the Monte Carlo Grand Final.

The judging panel is made up of the following: John Duthie (Executive Producer of The EPT), Lee Jones (former PokerStars.com Card Room Manager), Victoria Coren (writer, TV presenter & Team PokerStars Pro member) and John Caldwell (Editor-in-Chief of PokerNews).