Just a few short minutes after accomplishing what most poker players dream of – winning a World Series of Poker bracelet – Ari Engel stood in front of the assembled poker media for the customary post-tournament scrum and spoke candidly about how his confidence was low.

When the poker industry gathers in Las Vegas Friday night to celebrate the best of 2018 at the Global Poker Awards, PocketFives.com will honor a player who has collected more accolades over the course of his online poker career than any player in the 15-year history of the site.

November was a big month for attention-grabbing poker headlines. There was a hard-to-believe $100,000 prop bet that generated incredible buzz, the return of a high-profile lawsuit between a WSOP Main Event runner-up and the largest online poker site in the world, and the conclusion of a handful of prominent live poker tournaments that found winners. […]