It was only towards the end of February that PartyPoker made the announcement about its Team Online creation – a move which saw Matt Staples sign on as the first member of such. Since that time, various other players have signed on the dotted line to become members of the live streaming group.
Yet, it’s potentially the most-recent of these signings which will help PartyPoker to stand out on an even grander scale.
Former PokerStars representative Jeff Gross has become the latest name to become a member of Team Online. While the signing is big within itself, it has much more of an impact considering that he only left his PokerStars position but a month ago. Of course, to some, it was little surprise that he ended up a part of Team Online.
His PokerStars deal came to an end after two years and many of his 56,000 Twitch followers expected him to come up trumps afterwards. Thanks to the creation of Team Online, it didn’t take him long to locate a place that his streaming services could be put to use once again. Gross utilises his social media outlets for various other posts, including life content through his own YouTube channel where over 25,000 users follow him.
Gross was also a part of the Thirst Lounge stream reboot – something that he went into with channel owner Bill Perkins as well as fellow streamer Jaime Staples. Thirst Lounge looked for an online poker site sponsorship, and it was PartyPoker that stepped forward to do this. Potentially, that was a hint of the move for Gross to Team Online, too. In fact, it’s fairly likely that Staples will sign on to the streaming group too, joining Gross and his brother, Matt.
Other Sign-Ups in Monika Zukowicz and Steven Kok
Gross isn’t the only one to come aboard recently though, because two more well-known players have become new Team Online members.
First of all, Steven Kok, the 20-year-old Dutch player who has been streaming for two years will be making waves considering he’s a VIP ambassador for the RaiseYourEdge website.
Joining him is Monika Zukowicz who may be better known by her username “HeyMonia”. While a student of pharmaceuticals, she found poker and has gone on to make quite the name for herself, appearing frequently as part of the Eastern European Cash Game Festival events. She currently streams tournaments and cash games from her home base in Malta.
PartyPoker is also rumoured to be looking at several other names to come aboard for its Team Online – mainly those who have recently become free of their commitments to other brands. As well as the aforementioned Jaime Staples, it wouldn’t be much of a shock to see Kevin Martin and Daiva Byrne become the next ones to sign on.
While PokerStars looks to be steering out of the Twitch streaming vicinity, PartyPoker is making a dive head first into the area for pretty much the first time. With such a team already in place, there’s little to stop it from becoming a huge hit with players.
