It’s been a busy news month so far for PokerStars. Two of their most popular streamers have chosen to part ways with the company after a couple of years loyal service. Jaime Staples and Jeff Gross both decided not to renew the offer that was on the table and move onto new challenges.
So who is left flying the flag for the industry leader in 2019? The official list is as small as it’s been for quite a while, especially with stars such as Jason Mercier, Vanessa Selbst, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier leaving the stable only a year ago.
- Daniel Negreanu
- Jason Somerville
- Leo Fernandez
- Aditya Agarwal
- Lex Veldhuis
- Fintan Hand
- Chris Moneymaker
- Fatima Moreira de Melo
- André Akkari
- Muskan Sethi
- Randy Lew
- Mikhail Shalamov
- Liv Boeree
- Igor Kurganov
- Celina Lin
- Maria Konnikova
- Ben Spragg
- Felix Schneiders
This official list hasn’t been updated to include the newly announced Ramon Colillas. The Spaniard recently took down the PokerStars Players Championship after winning a Platinum Pass for free entry to the $25,000 event in the Bahamas.
As expected Kevin Martin soon announced he was also leaving. Martin has long been friends with Staples and Gross, and has stayed tight-lipped about his own contractual situation until today.
It has often been said that contracts at PokerStars usually renew around the same time each year. Maybe we’ll have to wait another 12 months for the next round of departures, but it’s not certain. Both Spraggy and Fintan Hand are a respected double act who have potential to improve their situation elsewhere - somewhere where they won’t be forced to make sub-par promos and play new gimmick game variants.
Felix Schneiders is another long-term contract holder who has a large, loyal following. He is huge in his native Germany and has been creating content almost longer than some of these new streamers have been alive.
If these three do decide to leave then it will all be down to Jason Somerville and Lex Veldhuis to carry the flag for the PokerStars Pro space. They have the biggest following for poker streamers on Twitch and should be able to squeeze a decent deal out of the management. However, it’s not as simple as this because a certain poker room has been active in making sign-ups recently and we think it’s possible that this room might be poised to make them an offer they can’t refuse.
Watch this space as more changes could be arriving very soon...