Over the past two weeks, PartyPoker not only announced its new Team Online but added new members on a nearly-daily basis in order to grow the team.
Now with 10 members, Team Online boasts of a diverse group of online poker players who play and stream the game on Twitch. They now serve as ambassadors for PartyPoker as they stream, giving the site a larger presence on streams.
PartyPoker’s first big step was a notable one, to sponsor Thirst Lounge by Bill Perkins. That happened just as Perkins and his crew of 10 poker streamers set sail on his yacht to destinations unknown, all while working together to produce interesting poker livestreams.
The next step was to create and build Team Online with a range of talent that allows them to draw viewers from low-stakes to high-stakes games, cash play to tournaments, and new to experienced players. And PartyPoker wasted no time putting together its roster.
Original Six
The first player to be announced for the newly-established team was Matt Staples, brother of Jaime Staples who had broken off a years-long sponsorship with PokerStars just days before. Matt had built quite his own following on Twitch, and he was the first recruited for Team Online with PartyPoker.
Announcements came rather quickly from there, with another person added to the roster almost daily.
Hristivoje Pavlovic followed Staples, and Travis Darroch – better known on Twitch as “dramaticdegen” – was the third pro. Then it was Patrick Tardif, Alan Widmann, and Ryan Schoonbaert.
Most of the players are not well-known in broad poker circles, but they all have unique qualities to contribute. Some are known in other esports and gaming circles, like Widmann for his World of Warcraft skills and Tardif for Halo competitions. But all of them are passionate about poker and have shown that in their Twitch streams enough to catch the eyes of team builders at PartyPoker.
Courtney Gee, First Female Team Member
After six male players launched Team Online, PartyPoker stepped up and announced the addition of Courtney Gee, a young Canadian poker pro who has long exhibited her passion for the game on Twitch. She has been playing since the age of 19 but also obtained a university science degree.
Playing on Twitch as “courtiebee,” Gee has developed a unique stream and popular online personality. Having posted more than 340 videos and garnered approximately 38,000 followers, she streams on a full-time basis from Vancouver and has even created her own line of bee-themed products.
https://twitter.com/courtiebee/status/1100442872417968128
Polish and Dutch Flavors Added
Not long after Gee was formally announced, two more players without as high a profile but with passion for the game became part of Team Online.
Steven Kok is known to many online as “DWstevie,” a member of the RaiseYourEdge team of poker analysts. He may be the youngest of the team at only 20 years old. He only started streaming poker when he turned 18, and in a relatively short time, he accumulated more than 11,000 followers.
The Dutch player can be found on multiple social media avenues, but he plans to represent PartyPoker on Twitch to engage others wanting to learn how to analyze their hands.
https://twitter.com/DWstevie99/status/1100765881842495489
The following day, a Polish player made it onto the team. Monika Zukowicz is also the second woman in the group and plays as “HeyMonia.” She now lives in Malta with a university master’s pharmacy degree.
As a professional player, Zukowicz grinds as much cash game poker as possible online while spending her time in live poker rooms focusing on tournaments. On Twitch, she’s still growing her following, which is nearing 2,000 people. She claims to have signed her contract a few months ago with PartyPoker and has been working on her streaming presence since then.
https://twitter.com/HeyMonia/status/1101169056063909888
Poker Flow to PartyPoker
This signing may have been the least surprising. PartyPoker announced that Jeff Gross joined Team Online. Not surprising since he is close with Bill Perkins and has been known to sail on more than a few Thirst Lounge voyages, a partnership between Gross and PartyPoker seemed like a common sense move.
The most interesting part of the signing, however, is that Gross left PokerStars only several weeks ago, ending that ambassadorship after only two years. While there seemed to be no bad blood, Gross was clearly clamoring to do something different.
The immensely popular poker pro has a Poker Flow Show, several million dollars in live and online poker earnings, and a welcoming personality. He has several hundred videos on his Twitch stream with more than 56,000 followers, and he – like Gee – has a line of poker-themed clothing and gear.
https://twitter.com/JeffGrossPoker/status/1101519788709416960
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