15 months after being appointed brand ambassador for GGPoker, it appears that Dan Bilzerian and the well-known poker brand have cut ties. GGPoker ended the relationship with Bilzerian on March 8th, which was also International Women’s Day. Bilzerian, a well-known provocative playboy and poker enthusiast is no stranger to scandal.
Up until recently, the poker enthusiast’s name and image were displayed prominently on the GGPoker site, as well as the one hundred-man sit and go variant, labeled Battle Royale. GGPoker had rebranded the Battle Royale and had even used Bilzerian as part of the branding. This was the second time that GGPoker had used the brand ambassador’s image, apart from the birthday competition that had been launched when he was announced as the new brand ambassador.
Bilzerian joined team GGPoker as brand ambassador in late 2020. Over the years, Bilzerian has emerged as one of the most distinguishable poker players. However, he is also one of the most talked-about social media personalities with more than 32 million Instagram followers. Known by his other name Blitz, Bilzerian had been representing GGPoker both online and at live events.
With such a large following on social media, Bilzerian was instrumental in helping GGPoker expand its reach during his tenure as brand ambassador. Sadly, on International Women’s Day, GGPoker erased all mention and branding associated with Bilzerian from its website.
In addition to wiping his name from the popular online poker site, GGPoker also removed special emotes that had been selected for him at the tables. Even though GGPoker has fully wiped Bilzerian’s name and branding from its online properties, it is not clear whether the brand has terminated his sponsorship deal fully.
What we cover
What Caused the Relationship to Turn Sour?
Bilzerian has always been a controversial character. The Armenian American poker player, also commonly referred to as the King of Instagram has always been very open about his outrageous lifestyle. Indeed, few people in the world of high-stakes poker are as controversial as Bilzerian. Loud, barefaced, and gaudy, the pro has been involved in more scandal than most can recall.
Although many people know him as a professional poker player, Bilzerian certainly did not become the King of Instagram for his prowess in the game. It has been his wild and rash lifestyle, which he openly and willingly shares on social media, that has made him a luminary. One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Bilzerian is how he came about his wealth.
It is largely perceived that his dad, Paul Bilzerian, was an ex-wall street magnate that was convicted of fraud. His father served a 13-month sentence. However, it is believed that Paul left Trust Funds for both his sons. As a young man, Bilzerian would often get into trouble, which caused his expulsion several times.
The troubled teen, however, found an alternative in military school. Sadly, he was honorably discharged from his military duties after suffering 2 stress fractures. After this obstacle, he found his way to college, which is where he was introduced to poker for the first time. As a novice, it is reported that he turned $750 into winnings worth $180K thus introducing the playboy into the world of high stakes poker where he has remained since.
Throughout his career as a professional poker player, Bilzerian has always been a discordant character. Having made a name for himself for his excessive lifestyle and womanizing, controversies and lawsuits have not failed to follow him. When GGPoker signed him as brand ambassador in December 20202, his signing ruffled a lot of feathers in the super verbal poker community.
A lot of people felt that appointing him as brand ambassador was taking the industry backward and making it worse for the already underrepresented female poker player. To mitigate the issue, GGPoker did try to make a concerted effort to reach out to more female players in a bid to make the industry more inclusive. Celebrated women and men in the poker community condemned his questionable behavior, lifestyle as well as the allegation of violence against women.
Following this backlash, GGPoker eventually made a plan to outreach more female poker players by forging a partnership with Daiva Byrne. Byrne is the founder of the popular Facebook group FLIP, which stands for Fantastic Ladies in Poker. She founded the group so that female poker players could have a community where they could openly discuss, plan and celebrate the growth of the female poker movement.
To make good on its promise of making the GGPoker platform more inclusive, the brand announced that they were joining forces with FLIP along with their founder. Byrne was then appointed as the Outreach & Community Advocate for the GGPoker brand. As a result of this partnership, GGPoker has been organizing tailor-made promotions and initiatives for female poker players, which has helped to greatly improve their experience on and off the tables.
For some people, partnering up with FLIP and its founder was perceived as lip service on the part of the brand to temper flames caused by Bilzerian’s appointment as brand ambassador. However, since the partnership with FLIP was made official, GGPoker has become a more inclusive brand, especially to novice female poker players.
Even after the partnership with FLIP, Bilzerian continued to carry out his role as brand ambassador. Despite serving as an ambassador for more than 1 year, Bilzerian remained relatively passive when it came to brand promotion. Once in a while, the King of Instagram would post a few Instagram stories as well as take part in various live events. However, the poker player did not make any noticeable effort to promote the GGPoker website.
Final Thoughts
According to GGPoker, Bilzerian’s role as brand ambassador did attract new players to the poker room. However, the brand has not shared precisely how many players the brand ambassador managed to attract. To mitigate the backlash that came with the Bilzerian signing, the brand organized a special female-only tournament to celebrate International Women’s Day, which is the same day that the brand cut ties with Bilzerian.
