PKR Scraps Team PKR Pro Model
October 21, 2015 1:09 pmLife was already difficult for those online grinders seeking sponsorship deals with companies, but now PKR has restricted the opportunities available to poker players further after axing its roster of sponsored pros. The pros now released by PKR include Dan O’Callaghan, and Eleanor Gudger, who commenting on her time as a PKR sponsored pro said:
“I’ve really enjoyed my time as part of PKR Team Pro.. I won’t be going far as I’ll always be a member of the great PKR family — at the tables, at the meet-ups, and on the forum.”
For his part, O’Callaghan had these words:
“Had a great time as a PKR Pro but all good things must come to an end. Maybe one day we’ll have a second soiree, but as for now I’m happy it happened more that I’m sad that it’s over.”
Over the years, PKR has been instrumental in nurturing poker talent from those players on its site, as well as further afield. This has included the likes of James Sudworth, Vladimir Geshkenbein, Sofia Lovgren, and Jake Cody. As to what has caused the dramatic change in strategy, PKR’s Head of Content on the PKR forums, Dan “PKR_Danski” Grant, explained in a post on October 14th that the site is currently “entering a period of seismic change”, but said that further details as to what that might entail will have to wait until the New Year.
In the meantime, Dan Grant took the opportunity to thank PKR’s former sponsored pros for services rendered, whilst also acknowledging certain shortcomings in their utilization by the site. As he wrote on the forum:
“Running a team properly, ensuring they get the advice and support they need and that we get every ounce of benefit from them takes an investment of time and money that we have not always been able to give, so we would like to apologize for that.”
However, Grant did offer some hope for those PKR customers looking for further prospects within the industry, by stating that the site was currently exploring new way in which ‘grass roots poker players’ could find themselves on the big stage.