Vicky Coren Leaves PokerStars After 7 Years
November 27, 2014 11:07 amBritish writer, TV presenter and poker professional Vicky Coren Mitchell joined PokerStars as a sponsored pro back in 2007, and during her tenure with the site has won many accolades, including victory at the 2006 European Poker Championships for £500,000 ($941,513), and the 2014 EPT San Remo Main Event for €476,100 ($660,947). Currently Coren is ranked 9th on the Women’s All Time Money List with $2,461,988 in earnings, and needless to say over the years she has attracted a great deal of positive publicity to the world’s biggest online poker room.
A matter of principle, however, has now compelled Vicky Coren to end her seven-year long association with PokerStars, as she seeks to distance herself from the casino games now being offered by PokerStars. While Coren expounds the virtues of playing a “skill based game” like poker, she appears adamant casino games can prove dangerous, especially for the desperate and vulnerable members of society. Elaborating on her surprise decision, Coren wrote in her blog:
“Poker is the game I love, poker is what I signed up to promote. The question I’m probably asked most often in interviews is about the danger of addiction, going skint and so on. I’m always careful to explain the difference between the essentially fair nature of poker, where we all take each other on with the same basic chance, and those casino games at unfavorable odds which can be (especially online) so dangerous for the vulnerable or desperate.”
In spite of leaving PokerStars, Vicky Coren was keen to point out that she respects the company’s business decision, and still holds it in high regard. She also said she will continue to play in PokerStars sponsored tournaments, such as the EPT and UKIPT, and said that PokerStars is still “the best place to play online poker.” She also described her decision to leave PokerStars as “a very sad and regretful day.”
Commenting on her departure, the PokerStars Head of Corporate Communications, Eric Hollreiser, said:
“We respect Victoria Coren’s decision to leave Team PokerStars Pro following our recent announcement to add casino games. We’re sad to see Vicky go and remain thankful for her support of the game and the company and wish her success in poker and in life.”