PokerStars Integrates Twitch With Its Online Client

PokerStars-Twitch Integration
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  • Attreyee Khasnabis November 29, 2019
  • 3 Minutes Read

Live-streaming is the in-thing in online gaming, and the trend is fast catching on in poker as well! Online poker giant PokerStars for one, has been exploring ways to reach out to wider audiences through live streaming platforms and has been making considerable progress on that front. In that vein, the brand has recently furthered its partnership with the live-streaming platform Twitch by allowing players to link their PokerStars account with Twitch directly on the online client itself.

Players who already have a Twitch account can log-in to the streaming site via a pop-up, while individuals who are yet to create their Twitch account need to register to the live-streaming platform before connecting it to their PokerStars account. Once the accounts are linked, players can immediately start broadcasting their sessions without having to set up things manually.

Just last month, news had come out revealing that PokerStars had integrated Twitch with its Stars Rewards program. This new move will allow players to become eligible for exclusive bonuses, including “special promotions, items, and rewards.”

PokerStars had officially launched its Twitch channel way back in 2015, and since then, live-streaming, especially in online poker, has come a long way. Even competitors have caught on to the trend fast with partypoker setting up its own Team Online comprising of a full-fledged team of avid poker streamers with a talent for streaming engaging content. Phil Galfond’s Run It Once Poker is another platform that came out with a rewards program around the concept of live-streaming.

However, with this latest in-client integration, PokerStars has pulled ahead of the others, at least in the live-streaming domain.

 

PokerStars & Live-Streaming

Since early this year, PokerStars has seen an exodus of team pros from its roster, starting with Twitch streaming poker professionals Jeff Gross and Jaime Staples parting ways with the Red Spade back in February. Other top names like Kevin Martin, Jake Cody, and Randy Lew were quick to follow. Six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu and poker power couple Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov also announced their departure from PokerStars recently. Gross, Staples, and Martin went on to join PokerStars rival, partypoker, and many in the global poker community began to wonder how PokerStars would combat this mass exodus. This was, in fact, the result of a deliberate and conscious decision by PokerStars to divert sponsorship dollars from top pros to other celebrities and social influencers with sizeable fan followings.

Even back in 2018, following the departure of several accomplished pros such as Felipe Ramos, Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier, and the brand’s longest-tenured sponsored player Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, PokerStars was looking to take on newer marketing goals which called for a revamped team of pros. Instead of giving patches to established players, the brand’s marketing team decided to try and reach a broader domain of potential customers.

Superstar athletes Rafael Nadal, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar Jr., whose fans number in the tens of millions at least, became spokesmen for PokerStars. Even Olympian Usain Bolt and actor Kevin Hart were signed on by the poker giant.

It seems that the Red Spade has decided to change its marketing strategy yet again, and this time, it is focussing on introducing more streamers under its fold. But instead of expanding its team of already popular streamers, the brand has decided to invest in up-and-coming streamers to reach out to wider audiences.

Following Lew’s exit, the brand signed up French pro Kalidou Sow and, soon after that, announced a full roster of 12 new names. While four of them – Arlie Shaban, James Mackenzie, Nick Walsh, and Eva Reberc have come on-board as full-time ambassadors, the remaining eight represent PokerStars as part of its team of poker streamers.

The eight new streamers, Mason ‘pyefacepoker’ Pye, Georgina ‘GJreggie’ James, Tom ‘Pleb_method’ Hayward, Alberto ‘Catof_Poker’ Perez, Guillermo Inclan, Steve Enriquez, Benjamin Bruneteaux and Julien Brecard, all have a strong fan base on Twitch.

In March, the brands India-facing site – PokerStars India – jumped onto the streaming bandwagon as well by launching its own Twitch channel. Generating content for the channel through live streaming sessions were two of its power-house talents – Aditya Agarwal and Muskan Sethi.

The site even signed on 24-year-old Sharad Rao as its first dedicated live streaming ambassador in June.

Sharad Rao
Sharad Rao

 

PokerStars’ In-Client Twitch Integration

PokerGuru reached out to the CEO of Sachiko Gaming Pvt. Ltd (PokerStars India), Ankur Dewani, who confirmed that the Twitch integration has been carried out on the PokerStars India client as well. Instructions for the integration are available on the blog “NEW: Link your PokerStars and Twitch accounts for exclusive giveaways, including two Platinum Passes”.

Ankur Dewani
Ankur Dewani

Talking about the integration, Scott Goodall, Head of Poker Communities & Engagement at The Stars Group, said, “We are always looking at new technology and platforms to evolve our offering and to improve the overall experience as part of our commitment to growing poker.”

Scott Goodall
Scott Goodall

“Platforms like Twitch take player engagement to another level, so we’ve been very focused on nurturing that community from the beginning and pioneering efforts there. Connecting PokerStars accounts with Twitch accounts means our players can identify themselves as Twitch users, and we can in turn offer them special promotions, items and rewards,” Goodall further added.

This latest development is evidence of how committed PokerStars is to imbibing live-streaming into the fold. While live-streaming has always been part and parcel of online gaming, it has taken a little more time for this platform to create a place for itself in online poker. However, with poker conglomerates like PokerStars and partypoker putting so much emphasis on live-streaming platforms like Twitch, this could very well blow up to massive proportions in the future.

 

PokerStars & Twitch Awarding 2 Platinum Passes to 2020 PSPC

On the heels of this exciting development, PokerStars has put up 2 Platinum Passes for the 2020 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold ’em Championship (PSPC) to encourage players to make the most from this integration.

To win a Platinum Pass, players must first link their PokerStars and Twitch accounts. PokerStars provides instructions for how to do so – via the poker client, Stars website, Android app, or iOS app. After that, they must watch the PokerStars Central channel on Twitch for at least 24 hours. The PSPC hopefuls must then stream themselves playing poker on PokerStars for at least 10 hours.

On December 23, PokerStars streamers Georgina’ GJReggie’ James, and Mason’ pyefacepoker’ Pye will each select a Platinum Pass winner. They will judge the entries based on “innovation,” “entertainment value,” and “quality of production.”

The Platinum Pass includes a €22,500 (US$24,783) entry into the PSPC, accommodations at a five-star hotel for six nights, plus €1,250 (US$1,377) in travel expenses. Winners of the Twitch promo will also receive $1,000 in their PokerStars accounts, plus a streaming-ready PC.

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