Usain Bolt In The World's Fastest Poker Game

6 years ago
Usain Bolt In The World's Fastest Poker Game
12:23
19 Aug

PokerStars marketing revolution is in full swing. After a successful #raiseit campaign from 2016 featuring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Dwyane Wade, and Neymar Jr., Amaya - or rather "The Stars Group Inc." - is building up on their past experience with the new #gameon project fronted by actor comedian Kevin Hart and recently retired legendary sprinter Usain Bolt.

While the previous campaign focused almost exclusively on social media ads, #gameon might be a more integral part of PokerStars brand seeing as Usain's Bolt name and face are now plastered all over the Zoom cash games in PokerStars lobby. 


Zoom Usain Bolt Edition

The Zoom Usain Bolt Edition is the first celebrity branded poker product in PokerStars history. While this doesn't change much for the core players, given how the experience of playing Zoom poker will stay practically the same (if we discount a few custom graphics and some minor promotions in the form of challenges and freerolls), the recreational players and Usain Bolt fans might be pleased to know that their game of choice is now advertised by a sports celebrity that they admire.

It's also important to point out, that the timing of this particular marketing stunt couldn't have been better, given the outpouring of social media support from millions of fans, following Bolt's recent retirement announcement, caused in part by an injury that he sustained during World Athletics Championships in London.

Lastly, PokerStars managed to seamlessly incorporate Zoom Usain Bolt Edition with the core idea of their #gameon campaign by releasing a short and snarky video featuring Bolt taunting Kevin Hart with the announcement of this rebranded poker format.


“A Hero That We Need?” 

Usain Bolt is a legendary athlete loved by millions of fans throughout the world. However, it's unclear how big of an overlap there is between people who simply enjoy following Bolt's achievements, and people who are so passionate about him, that they are willing to deposit money on PokerStars, and play on Zoom tables just because of one tweet and the fact that the face of their favorite sports star now appears in the poker room lobby.

The Stars Group Inc. is no doubt going to gather a lot of data to try to answer this question for themselves, and the success of the #raiseit campaign seems to validate their approach. That being said, core poker audience likely doesn't care that much about celebrities and by putting a lot of emphasis on marketing projects featuring people like Kevin Hart or Usain Bolt, PokerStars is yet again alienating the regulars who might choose to migrate to different poker rooms that will reward their loyalty.

Online poker is in need of some fresh blood and PokerStars is certainly doing a lot to attract new, casual fans to their site, but focusing solely on recreational players while forgetting about the serious grinders might lead to a poker ecosystem that's no easier to sustain than the one built on rewarding the professionals. 


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Mateusz has been writing about poker for the better part of the last decade. He's deeply interested in many poker related subjects like psychology, game theory, fitness, nutritional science etc.Read more

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