Eugene Katchalov No Longer a Team PokerStars Pro

While this chapter closes, I am truly excited to what lies ahead.”

Some news about me ... pic.twitter.com/cWFlf8Rt38

— Eugene Katchalov (EugeneKatchalov) May 31, 2016

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Hailing from Kiev, Ukraine, Katchalov was raised in Brooklyn, New York and has been a professional poker player since 2003. He has an impressive poker resume that justifies his reputation as one of the top players in the world. Katchalov won a WSOP bracelet in seven card stud in 2011 and had his biggest score at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he won the PCA High Roller event beating 37 other players who had stumped up the $100,000 buy-in to win the $1.5 million first prize. He even beat Kid Poker, Daniel Negreanu, heads to close out the win and lift the title. A WPT winner too, Katchalov came agonisingly close to completing the coveted Triple Crown by finishing runner-up in the EPT Deauville tournament in 2014. His lifetime tournament winnings are currently around $8.5 million.

PokerStars had worked closely with Katchalov to attempt to break into the Ukrainian poker market and in his statement Katchalov mentions how proud he is to have contributed to the growth of poker in that market. He also confirms his intention to continue to promote poker in the Ukraine and continue to promote legalized poker there. This indicates Katchalov’s decision is not a retirement but a change of direction that appears to have been mutually agreed by both parties with PokerStars perhaps noted that the legislative situation in Ukraine which since 2009 has seen poker and other forms of gambling banned.

Paying a high-profile poker player like Katchalov to promote the game in a country that does not permit gambling was perhaps an issue for PokerStars, however, Katchalov’s appeal and respect in the game is known throughout the world. "It appears the door remains open for the two parties to work together again in the future should the opportunity arise." said a pokerstars representative when speaking to Pokertube.

"We can confirm that Eugene Katchalov is no longer a member of Team PokerStars Pro. We thank him for his service to PokerStars and the game of poker. We wish him well in his future endeavours.”

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Pokerstars still has a number of high profile professionals on their books in Team Pokerstars, both in their Pro division and in their online team. Players like Daniel Negreanu, Liv Boeree, Chris Moneymaker and Johnny Lodden remain on their pro roster whilst prolific online talents such as Jaime Staples and Randy “Nanonoko” Lew form part of the Team PokerStars online. It is interesting to note that PokerStars now has 22 members of Team PokerStars Pro whilst their Team PokerStars Online roster contains 21 players. Will we continue to see a trend whereby online players become the focus of Pokerstars?

We will have to wait and see, but the ongoing exodus from Team PokerStars Pro clearly demonstrates the changing face of online poker. It is no longer the case that if you win a WSOP bracelet you are guaranteed an online sponsorship deal, where at one time winning a bracelet was the ticket to poker stardom and success. Now only the very biggest names like Chris Moneymaker and Barry Greenstein, almost marketable brands in their own right, are considered plus EV for the poker rooms to use their image to try and attract more players.

It is much more common these days to see online poker players be given a platform to lead by example and this appears to be the trend for online poker rooms in rewarding players that build a reputation based on actual results and who put in high volume on the site.