PokerStars Offers Sponsorship Deal For Indian And Japanese Players

PokerStars Offers Sponsorship Deal For Indian And Japanese PlayersHighlighting its changing priorities, PokerStars has just announced it has added two young and talented players from India and Japan to its team of sponsored pros as it seeks to make further inroads into two countries with poker industries still in their early stages of development. Consequently, Aditya Agarwal and Kosei Ichinose have become PokerStars’ first members of Team Pro India and Team Pro Japan, respectively, and commenting on the latest signings, Kristy Thompson, Head of Pro and Celebrity Marketing, said:
“The signing of these Team Pros from India and Japan is an important step in helping promote the game in countries where poker is only just coming to the fore. Both players are highly respected within the poker sphere, and their success and passion for the game will no doubt spread throughout their local and national communities.”
Indian’s Aditya Agarwal became a poker pro after learning the game whilst attending a University in the United States, and today he has won $394,509 from live tournament, in addition to a further $4,204,024 playing online.  A whopping $2,515,772 of that total was earned at PokerStars, and commenting on his new sponsorship deal, Agarwal said:
“I’ve been playing at PokerStars since 2004, so this is a dream come true for me. As a poker ambassador I want to help promote the game in India, and inspire more players to play and enjoy the sport.”
Similarly, Japan’s Kosei Ichinose picked up the game as a student in Canada nine years ago, and now boasts $305,677 in winnings from live tournaments, and a further $2,297,411 online. Ichinose will also be a more familiar name to many of PokerStars’ online regulars, having achieved Supernova Elite status in the past. Agarwal and Ichinose will now be tasked with helping spread the game to these two largely underdeveloped poker markets with a combined population of 1.38 billion people, and are expected to make their debuts at this month’s Aussie Millions at the Crown Casino, in Melbourne.
“I’m proud to be associated with PokerStars as I have achieved so much in the game by playing on the site,” said Ichinose. “I now look forward to helping spread the popularity of poker in Asia and representing the brand at major international tournaments like the upcoming Aussie Millions later this month.”


Poker News
Victor Ramdin and PokerStars: The End of a Long Road
04 Jun 2018
Victor Ramdin has parted company with PokerStars following 12 years representing the site as a sponsored ambassador. News of the Guyanan’s departure was made just prior to the start of this year’s World Series of Poker, which was seen as a necessary move in order to preempt any confusion created by his lack of an
2017 WSOPE Champ Martí Roca Signs with 888poker Spain
27 May 2018
As Europe’s shared online poker liquidity gathers momentum across national borders, major operators have been looking to recruit ambassadors to help promote their brands on the continent and around the world. One of the companies hoping to make inroads into the Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French markets is 888Poker, which has now signed the 2017
Phil Ivey and Maurice Hawkins In The Ascendancy Ahead of 2018 WSOP
21 May 2018
Last week, Valentin Vornicu captured two gold ring at the World Series of Poker Circuit New Orleans to top the WSOP Circuit Ring Winners list with twelve titles. Whatever clear daylight the Californian player had between himself and Maurice Hawkins, however, has now been narrowed to just one after the Florida pro won the $2,200
09 May 2018
One of the stories to emerge from the 2017 World Series of Poker had nothing to do with winning a coveted gold bracelet, but instead involved a multi-million dollar dispute between King’s Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik and Aussie poker pro Matt Kirk, with the latter accusing the former of stiffing him out of $2 million