Poker players receive a great deal of admiration from those who watch them play. For most of these professionals, the wins are effortless and they are often at task explaining why they are so good at the game. While poker talent a few decades ago just meant that a player bagged all the lucrative awards in a game, the stakes are higher now.
Betting companies are eager to be associated with the best industry talent – this explains the latest string of endorsements. The most recent and which is worth reporting to the poker fans is Darren Elias whose stint in poker has been felt for more than 10 years. His name started to stand out in poker tournaments held over the internet and it is from this avenue that he managed to accumulate winnings to the tune of $8M.
The success of Elias during this time was obviously facilitated by the internet because it is what led to the Full Tilt Poker sponsorship. He had no choice but to focus more on live poker and especially after Black Friday. Transferring his poker prowess to the live scene was an easy task for Elias and he would accumulate over $8.6M in win money after a short while.
For a poker player transferring his game from one platform to another the only requirement is that they understand how the new gambling platform works. The strategy will not change with a change in platform since the mind of the player is still what is important in any game.
Looking back at official poker events that Elias has participated in as a professional poker player, the greatest accomplishment is the performance record at the World Poker Tour. No other poker player can match up to the WPT titles held by Elias.
Apart from the vents which propelled him to the top, there are many others where Elias left an equally impressive mark. The poker champion has won many side events, appeared in a lot of final tables, been part of the PokerGo tour and even won the title of the Aria High Roller event held in March 2021. Although he has such high accolades to his name, Elias is yet to clinch a poker bracelet from the World Series of Poker.
What we cover
BetMGM brand ambassador
It is barely a week since the management of BetMGM announced that Elias will be joining the betting company’s operations as a brand ambassador. As a representative of the PartyPoker US Network, Elias will work in close collaboration with PartyPoker and BetMGM – he will by extension interact with the World Poker Tour team.
For Elias and his fans, this sponsorship is a great step in his poker career. He gets to do what he loves on a daily basis – promote online poker. At the same time, the poker professional will be at liberty to advance his career in poker
The brand ambassador job for Elias is meant to promote online poker and like him, encourage others to sharpen their strategy with every game they play. Without the need to change base or travel to work, Elias will most definitely remain in New Jersey which is actually his home.
New poker environment
If you were old enough in 2011, you probably remember the effects that Black Friday had on everything. There was no more online poker in the US because this sector of the industry was now only based on poker sites outside the country.
The poker environment that is currently being enjoyed came back a few years ago under license from the state governments. It is no wonder that every state is taking time to launch gambling because they individually have to deliberate on the benefits they stand to gain. That is why states like Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada are way ahead of the course compared to the likes of Michigan and Pennsylvania.
The independent state governments in the US create a gambling environment that appears fractured and hence limiting. BetMGM for instance runs on a PartyPoker platform but the betting provider has no permission to connect its sites which are scattered over multiple states. This is quite a challenge for companies that are looking to expand their business or capture a larger market.
Other than resorting to their fate, a few operators are making the most of these limitations. The situation was further compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic which prompted the shutting down of all venues where live poker events took place. By late 2020, the internet provided a much needed space to conduct business without the need for physical interaction hence the uptake of online poker.
Over the period of the last one year, whether due to the pandemic or other forces, BetMGM set up betting platforms in Michigan and Pennsylvania. The growth on these platforms has been basically slow but the need for an online gambling component in the betting industry cannot be underestimated.
BetMGM is definitely growing no wonder the need to bring Darren Elias on board as a PartyPoker US Network ambassador. Among his many roles as a brand promoter will be the marketing of PartyPoker events on live markets. With the WPT Online Borgata Poker Open just around the corner, this could be where his job officially begins.
The event which will run till the last week of September is a section within the World Poker Tour’s main tour which admits players upon payment of a $3,500 buy-in. Most players entering this competition are in for the guaranteed prize pool of $1M. Even though eligibility is for players in New Jersey alone, the tournament can be played from PartyPoker, Borgata Poker and BetMGM gaming sites.
Conclusion
The record that Elias has maintained as a strong poker advocate over his entire career is quite solid and any poker brand would be happy to have him on their team. The partypoker US Network team takes the first shot at this association with the hope that there will be significant brand elevation and awareness in future network tournaments.
