PokerStars has a shiny new league for live events this year. To showcase the new PokerStars Open series, they've launched the PokerStars Live League, a new leaderboard for players at select live events.
To find out more about the league, how it came about, and what they're hoping to accomplish with it, we sat down with PokerStars Customer Engagement Manager at Live Events, Willie Elliot.
Leaderboards must have transparency and reward loyalty
"Our goal with the model was transparency," says Elliot. "You have to know how many points you're going to get if you win an event and if you min-cash it."
They're not using some obscure model that's difficult to understand. Instead, they've turned to the system poker players are most familiar with for rankings.
"We've based the formula on the GPI rankings. It's clearly the industry standard. We've been able to integrate it fully into the PSLive system. Your points are automatically tracked in our registration system and immediately added to the app after the event. There's also a points calculator so you can work out which events to play to get the points you need."
PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton played the first PokerStars Open in Italy this week.One benefit of instituting the leaderboard system is encouraging players to attend more festivals, and in turn, play more events - a fact not lost on Elliot.
"They now have an incentive to come to other events once they've bagged up a good batch of points," says Elliot. "If you're a poker player, and you're going to come to some events anyway, you're going to look at other events you could come to to get more points. It's going to reward loyalty and consistency; those two things will result in winning these leaderboards."
It's already working, even at this opening festival. Many players have said the allure of a leaderboard swayed them to come to Campione. One of those players is Unibet Ambassador David Lappin.
Unibet ambassador David Lappin doesn't mind praising other brands who get it right."I've got to hand it to PokerStars," says Lappin. "I think they've come up with a concept that will scratch the itch for live grinders. The Live League has 10 stops, nine of which are in fantastic locations, with another one in Manchester. I will be giving the leaderboard my best shot, at least in the early going, and that's why I'm in the beautiful Italian enclave of Campione this week."
PokerStars Live League tiers, structure and prizes
PokerStars has divided the Live League into three tiers, each with a separate leaderboard for qualifying events.
- Tier 1 - €/£/$999 or less
- Tier 2 - €/£/$1,000 to €/£/$4,999
- Tier 3 - €/£/$5,000 or greater
"The top three players of each leaderboard will win prizes in the form of tournament entries for the following year," Elliot explains. "The top-tier winner gets a €62,400 package, the mid-tier winner gets a €25,600 package, and the low-tier winner gets a €15,000 package."
As Lappin mentioned above, 10 events qualify for the Live League.
- PokerStars Open Campione | March 10-16
- Irish Open | April 10-21
- EPT Monte Carlo | April 30 to May 10
- PokerStars Open Namur | May 28 to June 9
- PokerStars Open Malaga | June 16-22
- EPT Barcelona | August 18-31
- EPT Malta | October 1-12
- PokerStars Open Manchester | October 20-26
- EPT Prague | December 3-14
- PokerStars Open Cannes | December 15-21
One leaderboard finalist will become a PokerStars Ambassador
It's not only tournament entries up for grabs in this leaderboard chase. One player will end up inking a coveted, year-long ambassador deal with PokerStars worth €100,000. The top 10 players of each tier will each have the chance to audition for the ambassador deal.
One player will join Benjamin 'Spraggy' Spragg in wearing the PokerStars patch."Even if you're not in contention for the top prize, you can strive to be in the top 10," says Elliot. "If your ambition is to be an ambassador and get that deal, then push for that."
If that ambassadorship is your main goal, it's worth listening to what Head of Marketing Engagement Communications, Dave Curtis, has to say regarding what they'll be looking for during the audition process.
"When selecting ambassadors, we look for players who truly love the game and embody authenticity and credibility," says Curtis. "They should be excellent communicators, social media-savvy, and passionate about poker's integrity.
"Professionalism, teamwork, and a deep belief in our brand are essential. Our ambassadors are not just representatives - they are creative, adaptive, and deeply connected to the poker community. They act as the voice, eyes and ears of the players, gathering feedback and ensuring we continue to evolve alongside the game."
Elliot has one final piece of advice for those considering chasing the prestigious ambassador role.
"If you think you'd be a good ambassador, you absolutely want to be coming to live events regularly," says Elliot. "Grind this leaderboard and put yourself in that top 10. The stories are going to develop throughout the year as well. Who's at the top of the league, who's in contention; we'll have visions of what each person in the top 10 has done throughout the year before the audition even starts."
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Learn more about the PokerStars Live League.
Images courtesy of Manuel Kovsca/Jonathan Perez/Danny Maxwell/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
