Some players have achieved great accomplishments in their poker careers but didn’t seem to gain their due recognition. To be fair, not all top players want to be in the spotlight or represent a poker entity. Some of them just wait for the right fit.
Darren Elias is one of those poker players who has been crushing for well over a decade. He had his time in the online poker realm, ultimately racking up more than $8M in earnings for online tournaments. And his online success did lead to a sponsorship with Full Tilt Poker. That prompted him to play more live poker, and after Black Friday, he had little choice but to focus on his live game. And his live tournament earnings eventually added up to more than $8.6M. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment to date, at least on the books, is his record with the World Poker Tour. He holds more WPT titles than any other player.
-Sept 2014: $3,500 WPT Borgata Championship (Atlantic City) $843,744-Nov 2014: $3,500 WPT St. Maarten Main Event (St. Maarten) $127,680-Feb 2017: $5K WPT Fallsview Poker Classic Main Event (Niagara Falls) $326,776-May 2018: $10K WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic (Las Vegas) $387,580
Of course, Elias made even more final tables, won side events, and most recently won an Aria High Roller event in March 2021 that was a part of the PokerGO Tour. He is also thought to be one of the best players to have not yet won a World Series of Poker bracelet.
This week, BetMGM announced that Elias is now a brand ambassador for the partypoker US Network. In a seemingly perfect fit, Elias is now able to work with BetMGM and partypoker, two brands that regularly work with the World Poker Tour.
https://twitter.com/WPT/status/1435522248736063491?s=20
It is a sponsorship that makes perfect sense, as it allows Elias to promote his love of online poker while continuing to foster his live poker career. He can also remain close to his home in New Jersey while doing it.
New Ambassador for a New Environment
It goes without saying that Black Friday in 2011 changed everything. Online poker was relegated to offshore-based poker sites and eventually state-licensed online poker. It took some time to launch poker in Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey, but it took quite a few more years to do the same in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Further, West Virginia legalized it years ago and still has no poker sites. Connecticut legalized it this year but may not launch poker for a while.
At this point, the US market is small and mostly fractured, separated by state lines. BetMGM with its partypoker platform is not yet allowed to connect its sites over state lines, limiting the potential for the company and market as a whole.
However, some operators have made the most of it. And when the pandemic shut down all live poker in 2020, everyone looked to online poker possibilities.
Within the last year – whether inspired by the pandemic or not – BetMGM launched sites in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Growth may be slow, but over the past year and a half, more gambling entities realized the need for an online gambling component for unpredictable times.
With that in mind, BetMGM is growing. And it announced that Darren Elias is now a partypoker US Network ambassador. His role will consist of representing the network sites by participating in and promoting online events in live markets.
The ideal start is the upcoming WPT Online Borgata Poker Open. It will run in New Jersey September 19-21 as a part of the World Poker Tour’s main tour. That Main Event will require a $3,500 buy-in with unlimited reentries. There is a $1M guarantee on the prize pool. The first day will play 16 levels, with the second day playing to the final table of eight players. And September 21 will present the final table.
The tournament will run on the BetMGM Poker, Borgata Poker, and partypoker NJ sites, which are all linked but require all players to be located in New Jersey.
BetMGM VP of Gaming Matthew Sunderland noted that Elias has always been a strong advocate for poker through his career. “We’re thrilled to welcome him to the partypoker US Network team and look forward to working together to elevate our brand and drive awareness for the WPT Online Borgata Poker Open and beyond.”
Elias added that he believes the upcoming WPT event will be a solid event for poker players, especially with the continued postponement of many live tournaments. Beyond that, he said, “As partypoker US Network continues to expand, I’m excited to grow with them and bring accessible, championship-level online poker to players across the US.”
https://twitter.com/partypokerUS/status/1435635074129616896?s=20
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