Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu a GGPoker Ambassador

It seems like Daniel Negreanu enjoys keeping things exciting in the poker world. Fresh from being declared the winner of the World Series of Poker Player of the Year leaderboard only to then have the title snatched from his grasp after an error was discovered, he’s now making headlines again. This time it’s something much more positive though – Negreanu has signed on to become a new ambassador for GGPoker. He made the announcement himself via Twitter on Wednesday, Nov. 20, heaping praise on the poker site, which has been making its own waves in the online gambling world.

Negreanu Announces His Delight

Many have considered Negreanu’s signing to GGPoker to be one of the biggest online poker site sponsorships in the past decade, and the pro certainly wasn’t hesitant about boasting of his pleasure at being able to represent the brand either. In a 59-second video displayed on his Twitter account, KidPoker recorded himself on the Las Vegas Strip, posting to his feed with the comment, “I have a BIG announcement to make!” Negreanu didn’t disappoint with his announcement, smiling and stating that he is "super excited" to become the new ambassador for GGPoker.

He went on to talk about the brand managing to make a name for itself in the online world in a very short period of time, paying particular attention to the GG Series, which increased from $3 million in guarantees last year to a massive $50 million during its latest installment. That’s quite a massive increase in just a single year. The GG Network is big in Asian markets although still relatively unknown in the Americas and Europe.

Negreanu also had praise for the poker software and mobile client overall too. The latter, he said, is “super user-friendly, fun, and engaging.”

Doubtless, this is quite the catch for GGPoker, considering Negreanu’s status as such a high-profile poker player. He was elected into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2014, which was his very first year of being eligible for such an accolade. To add to that, he has won six WSOP bracelets in his career already and is still going strong.

Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu

Some may even consider him to be the most recognizable poker player in the world especially given the fact that Daniel is often fairly vocal on issues affecting the poker community. For example, he took to his Twitter earlier this year to poll his followers on if they considered it cheating to use a VPN to access prohibited offshore sites from the United States: certainly a topic that generates quite a bit of discussion and heated debate.

PokerStars Loses Out After 12-Year Partnership

Before Negreanu was an ambassador for GGPoker, he had been the face of the world’s biggest online poker site, PokerStars. This arrangement first began 12 years ago, in June 2007, and it was said to be the largest poker signing at the time.

In May 2019, Negreanu announced that he had split from the company. Because his tenure with the organization started when it was just a few years old and continued for more than a decade, there’s little doubt that he helped to build the room into what it has become today.

Negreanu did have his own trials and tribulations during his time with PokerStars though. In the last couple of years of his partnership with them, he suffered through a barrage of negativity from other players who chided him for remaining as an ambassador for the company despite the fact that the new owners of PokerStars ended its popular VIP Club. That occurred on January 1, 2017, and it was just another move in a series of player-unfriendly actions undertaken by PokerStars in the past few years. Yet, Negreanu remained firmly in his position as the face of the company until earlier in 2019.

Despite the poker room and Negreanu parting ways, there didn’t appear to be any bad blood between them. PokerStars sent out a Tweet highlighting Negreanu as “a true legend of the game” before wishing him good luck in his future endeavors. Meanwhile, KidPoker highlighted certain people from the PokerStars team and the places he had been able to travel to as an ambassador for the company before wishing everyone the best.

PokerStars Leaking Ambassadors Left and Right

Negreanu leaving the PokerStars brand isn’t the first instance of a high-profile name opting to go elsewhere. Over the past couple of years, the company has lost several professionals, including Jason Mercier, who ended his own relationship with the brand in January of 2018. Known as one of the most successful tournament players in history, Mercier severed his ties with PokerStars citing his wife and son as the reasons that he was leaving.

More recently, we saw the departure of one of poker’s premier power couples. On Nov. 14, 2019, high-stakes players Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov, who have actually been dating for several years, announced their departures from the brand, which was also done via Twitter. And journalist-turned-poker-pro Maria Konnikova recently tweeted about her departure from Team PokerStars – as it happens, on the same day that Daniel Negreanu revealed his new arrangement with GGPoker.

The Most Recent Departure From Team PokerStars, Maria Konnikova

Other recognizable names who have abandoned the PokerStars brand include Barry Greenstein, Isaac Haxton, Randy Lew, Vanessa Selbst and Jeff Gross.

PokerStars has gone through significant changes in its marketing strategy since it was acquired by Amaya in 2014. That deal, which cost a total of $4.9 billion, saw Amaya implement a different philosophy than previous management, and multiple changes took place over the following years.

PokerStars has opted to discontinue relationships with many of its well-established professional poker players and turn its attention elsewhere. That attention has been given instead to popular Twitch streamers and other individuals who likely resonate more with a lay audience than the traditional pro grinder. It was only in October of this year that PokerStars announced its decision to integrate Twitch.tv into its poker software: doubtless an attempt to enhance its appeal among recreational users.

GGPoker Looking to Dominate?

The signing of Daniel Negreanu to its ranks can only spell good things for the up-and-coming GGPoker brand. Up until now, the company’s most notable ambassador has been Bryn Kenney. He pretty much became the face of GGPoker in March last year and hasn’t looked back.

GGPoker, which is currently in third place for global poker traffic, appears to be angling for even greater success in the future. It has already made a bid to capture the high-stakes market by running $25K buy-in re-entry tournaments every single hour of the day as part of its Blade series. These $25K tournaments started appearing in the lobby toward the end of September, and they marked quite the ambitious format for GGPoker, which up until then hadn’t had such a large number of big-buyin tournaments for its players to participate in.

With the introduction of these tournaments as well as the fact that GGPoker has now also managed to sign one of the biggest players in the world, the future looks exponentially bright for the poker room.

Negreanu-Focused Promo Announced

GGPoker is rightly proud of adding KidPoker to its stable of pros and has developed a promotion geared specifically around his presence. Called the “Daniel Negreanu Challenge,” this event will see the top two players in each of four tournaments advance to a final table where they will get to play nine-handed against the erstwhile pro on Dec. 22 for a prize pool of $100,000.

GGPoker Has Already Started Promoting Daniel Negreanu's Presence on Its Website

$100,000 in total prize money is nothing remarkable as far as online poker promotions go, but many fans will assuredly flock to GGPoker for a chance to play against their idol. As long as GGPoker continues to bank on Daniel Negreanu’s name recognition and popularity, the site will have a valuable resource for player acquisition going forward.

GGPoker Inaccessible to US Players

While it may seem like GGPoker has quite the bright outlook, the poker room is not accessible to players based in the US. For this reason, you won’t be able to participate in the aforementioned $25K tournaments or the Negreanu Challenge if you’re an American.

Even though this is the case, you can still access a collection of other online poker sites that do cater to the American market. You can find a selection of these rooms in our own guide to poker for U.S. residents. You will probably find a platform that will interest you listed on that page.