Shortly after reeling in Isaac Haxton and Philipp Gruissem as their most recent players joining the roster of partypoker Team Pros this past month, partypoker has just announced that they have created the all-new Team Online, which consists of a new group of sponsored poker pros with their main role of representing partypoker both online and in live events.
The newest faces are three Brazilian players and top Austrian pro Josep Simunic.
Josep Simunic of Austria
Considered one of the most accomplished poker players in Austria who's at 9th place on the country's all-time money list, Josep Simunic is actually also a former semi-pro handball player. After watching WSOP events aired on TV, he got hooked into playing poker as well, and good things were in store for him in the future.
He has proven himself to be a force to reckon with at the European poker setting - he has a total of $1.3 million in live tournament earnings, which includes winning in the 2014 Swiss Poker Championships for $85,000+, and another in the Deauville High Roller where he got hero status for coming up from just three big blinds to take down his career-best score of $350,000!
In addition to playing at partypoker LIVE and online events, Simunic will be joining the German commentary team during the livestream of the MILLIONS Grand Final in Barcelona this April.
Simunic was elated, "I'm delighted to be joining partypoker, especially just after the 2018 series announcement. There are so many dates now on offer throughout the year it's a great time to be joining partypoker! On the live circuit, it's been great to see how the partypoker MILLIONS events have really captured everyone's imagination; I know the atmosphere at this year's tournaments is going to be incredible."
New Brazil Representatives: Lui Martins, Renato Nomura and Day Kotoviezy
The three other new players coming onboard partypoker's Team Online are all of Brazilian heritage, and they are Lui Martins, Renato Nomura and Day Kotoviezy. They will be joining their fellow country members Joao Simao, Luiza Simao and Bruno Gagliasso who are already in partypoker's roster.
Lui Martins
Lui Martins is a Brazilian player who has quite a reputation both in the online and live poker scenes. An ex-World of Warcraft and Quake specialist, Martins decided to switch to playing poker just like many other eSports crushers, and fortunately for him, he has found success with over $500,000 in online winnings so far.
Some of his notable achievements include 3rd place in the Title Fight back in August and also a runner-up finish for $115,248 last year. On the live poker scene, Martins finished 4th place in the 2016 WSOP International Circuit Sao Paulo Main Event, taking home with him $79,457.
Martins said, "partypoker is making such a big impact at the moment so this is a great time to be joining the team. I know it's going to be very exciting as well as a lot of fun."
Renato Nomura
It was February last year when Renato Nomura ultimately won the online multi-table tournament $215 Title Fight at partpoker for over $52,000, and now he has over $1 million in combined online and live cashes to his name, with $850,000 of it coming from the online world.
In 2013, he was the last man standing in player field of 572 entrants at the BSOP Main Event.
Nomura said regarding his new sponsorship, "I am really looking forward to representing the partypoker brand. There's a lot of great players in our country and competition is pretty fierce so I am thrilled to have been chosen to join the new online team."
Day Kotoviezy
Last but not least, Day Kotoviezy is the third Brazilian pro to join partypoker and to represent Team Online. With a BSOP Ladies Event title to her name, Kotoviezy also serves as a poker coach and mentor at the Massari Poker School in Brazil.
She said, "Joining partypoker Team Online alongside Renato and Lui really is a dream come true for me. Poker has become my life so this really is a fantastic honour."
Tom Waters, partypoker's Managing Director, is equally excited about their all-new Team Online, "The recruitment of Renato, Josip, Lui and Day has got Team Online off to a really great start. These are players who have a true passion for the game and I know they will be amazing ambassadors for partypoker wherever they play."
Source:
https://www.partypoker.com/blog/partypoker-announces-creation-brand-new-team-online.html