KID POKER JOINS TEAM POKERSTARS.COM

15 June 2007

Full Contact Poker's front ace moves to industry leader

Daniel 'Kid Poker' Negreanu's departure from Full Contact Poker (see previous InfoPowa report) was explained this week by news that Full Contact Poker is closing, steering its players to online poker industry leader Poker Stars.com.

Canadian born but Vegas resident Negreanu becomes the latest addition to Team PokerStars, joining a handful of the game's largest names including three of the last four WSOP Main Event winners, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem.

Negreanu burst onto the poker scene in 1997, earning back-to-back World Poker titles at Foxwoods, captured Player of the Year honours in 2004 and earned three WSOP bracelets in a meteoric career. He has arranged a frenetic playing schedule for himself at this year's World Series of Poker, clearly intending to extend his bracelet colunt and winnings.

"I've enjoyed a long personal relationship with the folks at PokerStars since the company's founding in 2001 and have always felt as though PokerStars fully understood what players wanted: lots of tournaments, lots of variety and great software," said Negreanu, following the signing. "The organization seems like the perfect fit for me and I'm glad they feel the same way."

Team PokerStars member Barry Greenstein welcomed Negreanu to the site's roster of pro endorsers. "Daniel embodies what poker and PokerStars are all about: enjoying the excitement and the challenge of poker," said Greenstein. "Daniel is a true ambassador of the sport and we welcome him to the Team as well as all of his players and fans from Full Contact Poker. We know they will enjoy the PokerStars experience."

Unconfirmed reports suggest that a merger agreement with Poker Stars appears to be the reason for Full Contact Poker's demise, which will this week see the online poker room shut down and facilitate moves by current players to PokerStars. No details of the Poker Stars deal with Full Contact were available at press time.

Former FCP players will be allowed to transfer their balances into PokerStars accounts, according to an email sent to FCP players. FCP has halted deposits and withdrawals, and its players will need to transfer their balances to Poker Stars in order to access their money. All FCP accounts will be closed from Thursday, June 14.

Current FCP players will be contacted by PokerStars via email with specific instructions on how to transfer their balances or set up a new account.

The Full Contact Poker brand will not die entirely. Plans exist to covert the site to a poker community theme that retains the popular forum, which will continue to feature material from Negreanu, including his written blog, video blog and forum entries.

PokerStars has agreed to continue many events that formed the core of FCP's offerings. Negreanu's Protégé 3, Weekend at Daniel's events and the weekly Negreanu Open will become PokerStars events.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa