Conquering the Market: The Story of PokerStars

Just like most companies out there, PokerStars was not always the industry giant that they are today. They had to build the company and create a brand to get to the top. Thanks to an interesting blog post by Dan Goldman, we were given a sneak peak into those beginnings.

Goldman was the lead marketing man for PokerStars when the company started and he admits that when he first interviewed for the job, his biggest fear was that they were attempting to go against ‘a 900 pound gorilla’ named Paradise Poker that was absolutely dominating the online poker market in 2002.

PokerStars went in with an estimated yearly marketing budget of $600,000. As Goldman explains, there was something about Isai Scheinberg that just exuded confidence. Money was not an issue – he was ready to do what it took to make PokerStars number one in the world.

When Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP Main Event in 2003, Dan was very excited about the marketing potential. And you don’t even have to be a marketing expert to realize that someone named Moneymaker will make your marketing efforts so much easier.

Although there were some differences of opinion between Dan and Isai about what medium would offer the best return, Goldman had his mind set on setting up billboards around Los Angeles. The cost of the billboards was $30,000 a month plus the cost of the boards, but as it turned out, it was a great investment.

The billboards quickly started bringing players directly to PokerStars. After the first full month, 200 players claimed that they first learned about and joined Stars after seeing the billboards. Although it was initially envisioned primarily as a branding campaign, it actually turned into a direct response campaign.

By 2005, PokerStars had become one of the top three brands (alongside Full Tilt and PartyPoker), having three WSOP champions come from the ranks of their players. A good marketing plan, sufficient funding, and a lucky breakthrough with Chris Moneymaker all came together to help the company grow into one of the market leaders.

Goldman also tells an interesting story about how they almost paid nearly $1.5 million to bring Ben Affleck onto the cruise ship for the first World Poker Tour event. In the end it did not happen due to some technical and administrative difficulties, but throughout the negotiations phase, Isai was showing a clear determination to have Affleck on the cruiser regardless of the cost. He clearly had far-sighted goals which, as it turns out, led to an eventual domination on the market.

Dan Goldman was the guy running the show and he admits that he often felt uncomfortable dealing with such huge amounts of money for different marketing efforts. It was certainly a lot of pressure to handle when things were just getting off the ground, but looking back at it, he definitely has a lot to be proud of considering PokerStars now sits head and shoulders above the competition.

You can read the full entry on his smalltalkdan blog page if you want some more juicy details, like the whole Bike situation and how the tables turned.