Player of the Year Bash Lives Up to the Hype: Poker's Superstars Hit Hollywood for the Card Player 2005 Player of the Year Awards

Calvin Ayre and the Bodog girls

Men "The Master" Nguyen

The anticipation leading up to the Card Player 2005 Player of the Year Awards was nothing short of gargantuan. In the weeks preceding the Feb. 15 event, the poker world was buzzing with talk of the upcoming trip to the Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre in downtown Hollywood. With world-renowned party host Bodog.com at the helm and comedian Brad Garrett as the master of ceremonies, the stage was set for one amazing night – and was it ever.



Billing this night as the "Oscars of poker" doesn't even do it justice. People expect to see Tom Cruise or Angelina Jolie get decked out for their special night, but when's the last time you saw Gavin Smith in a suit? There's no need to answer – we already know. To see the biggest collection of gamblers in the world gather in one place dressed to the nines was nothing short of staggering, and the event hadn't begun. Upon arrival at the theater, players were greeted by a red carpet and full press line. As players paused for the paparazzi, the street began to fill with starry-eyed onlookers, jockeying for position to get a glimpse of poker's top brass. At one point, the entire world stopped when Phil Ivey stepped onto the carpet, but once inside, all returned to normal.

Inside the theatre, only two words mattered: open bar. The pre-ceremony cocktail reception took place on the roof of the theater, where, surprisingly, nobody fell off.



The ceremony itself began at 8:30 p.m. Seating was first-come, first-served, so the process was a little like finding a lunch seat in your high school cafeteria. Seating ended up looking a little like a United Nations gathering, a fact that host Brad Garrett used to brutally roast many of the players in attendance. ("Hey, Men, I want my dry cleaning back by Tuesday. You hear me?") The players were, for the most part, good-natured about the roasting, and the crowd absolutely ate it up. The award presentations were broken up by dance performances by the beautiful Bodog girls, and musical performances by Don Felder from the Eagles and Gilby Clark from Guns N' Roses.

The awards themselves were given to 14 enormously deserving players, and each was given a beautiful crystal Player of the Year trophy. The winners were:

Player of the Year – Men Nguyen

Best Cash-Game Player – Chip Reese

Poker Ambassador – Mike Sexton

Best No-Limit Player – Phil Ivey

Most-Entertaining Player – Mike Matusow

Lifetime Achievement Award – Doyle Brunson

Best Heads-Up Player – Phil Ivey

Best Mixed-Game Player – Chip Reese

Breakthrough Player – Michael Gracz

Most-Feared Player – Phil Ivey

Most-Underrated Player – Allen Cunningham

Best Female Player – Jennifer Harman

People's Choice Award for Favorite Player – Daniel Negreanu

People's Choice Award for Favorite Celebrity Player – Jennifer Tilly

Phil Ivey took home the MVP title for the evening, raking in the award in three categories. Ivey, who readily admits his disdain for public speaking, was suave, cool, and very complimentary of his fellow players. Daniel Negreanu, who was beaten by Ivey in the most-feared and best no-limit player categories, defeated Ivey for the People's Choice award, an award Negreanu said was one of the most important he's ever won.

The man of the evening, however, was Men "The Master" Nguyen, the Card Player 2005 Player of the Year. This was Men's fourth Player of the Year title, having also won it in 1997, 2001, and 2003. Men won this year's title by exhibiting unshakable skills at the poker table and an extreme dedication to tournament play, as shown by his willingness to play any event, despite the buy-in. Men attended the ceremony with his wife and daughter, but unfortunately forgot to bring a translator. Several Coronas in the bag and a heavy Vietnamese accent do not a fluid speech make, but presenter Phil Hellmuth stepped in to help out. Somehow, Phil avoided any reference to his latest unbelievable laydown, and the audience was moved to tears. Congratulations go out once more to the 2005 Player of the Year, Men Nguyen.



To say that the night was a monstrous success and a huge leap forward for poker would be an understatement. This ceremony drove poker further into the mainstream and solidified Card Player's Player of the Year award as the pinnacle of poker achievement. The Player of the Year race for 2006 has seen an early leader in Michael Mizrachi, but, as we've seen time and time again, anything can, and usually does, happen.

Card Player's 2005 Player of the Year awards banquet was an epic night, and here's what a few of the attendees had to say.
DOYLE BRUNSON – WINNER OF THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD "It just took mainstream America a long time to fi gure out that poker is the greatest game there is. I found it out 53 years ago." "I just hope this lifetime achievement thing is not like those Hollywood things, where the guy's expected to die right away, 'cause I plan on hanging around about 20 more years – and I hope to play poker until I'm 85."	CHIP REESE – WINNER OF BEST CASH-GAME PLAYER AND BEST MIXED-GAME PLAYER – ON THE POKER EXPLOSION "It's a pretty amazing ride, and I don't think it's over."
PHIL IVEY – AFTER WINNING BEST NO-LIMIT PLAYER "A lot of people think they know how to play poker, but they really don't." "Anybody can play poker. It doesn't matter who you are. Whether you're 400 pounds or a woman or a young kid, anybody can play. Anybody can become a great poker player. That's what makes poker the greatest game in the world."	MICHAEL GRACZ ON WINNING BREAKTHROUGH PLAYER OF THE YEAR OVER MICHAEL "THE GRINDER" MIZRACHI AND TUAN LE "I think the award could have gone to any of us. I just feel very blessed to have received it."
MIKE MATUSOW – WINNER OF MOST-ENTERTAINING PLAYER "It's all about entertaining the crowd, entertaining the people at the table. I'm here to have fun. Poker's a fun game. I come to play poker to have fun and to bust Phil Hellmuth."	JIM COCA – WINNER OF THE CARD PLAYER FREEROLL CHAMPIONSHIP AND A $10,000 SEAT IN THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER "I'm in awe. I get to rub elbows with all the best players that I've come up watching and wanting to emulate. It's amazing."
DANIEL NEGREANU – WINNER OF FAVORITE PLAYER "Poker has ballooned, and we've talked about how it's getting more and more popular. An event like this really elevates it to something completely different. Now we're talking the Oscars for poker. … The longer this happens, the more prestigious they'll be. I'm just so excited about the fact that I was here for the fi rst ever."	MIKE SEXTON – WINNER OF POKER AMBASSADOR "I've always thought it was possible. I've had a little more vision than most, but who ever could have dreamed poker would get as big as it is, and be as popular as it is today? It's even surprised me a little." "Card Player magazine's done a wonderful job of promoting our game. There's been a number of factors, but it's all culminating in the tremendous growth of the poker world."
JENNIFER TILLY – WINNER OF FAVORITE CELEBRITY PLAYER "It's a great feeling. It's really nice to get this validation from the readers of Card Player."