The mini-renaissance for U.S. online poker continues. PokerStars announced this week that it is signing two popular American poker players to its Team PokerStars Pro squad, The announcement comes in tandem with the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) event at Resorts World in Las Vegas. Caitlin Comeskey and Jason Koon were announced at a press conference in Vegas on Thursday.
Koon is one of the most successful tournament poker players in history with more than $58 million in tournament earnings, placing him fourth on the all-time money list.
Comeskey is also a poker player but is better known for her irreverent social media videos sending up major stories and characters from around the poker world. She won the Best Short Form Content Creator Award at last year’s Global Poker Awards.
Now four US players on Team PokerStars
The duo joins fellow Americans Maria Konnikova and Jennifer Shahade as the U.S. representatives on the squad of sponsored pros from around the world.
“I started my poker journey playing at PokerStars and it’s always had a special place in my heart. I’m looking forward to bringing the PokerStars experience to players here in the US and across the world,” said Koon.
In addition to the NAPT tournaments, Resorts World is also playing host to the filming of the poker television show The Big Game on Tour. Flutter previously announced the lineup for the new season would include Rob Gronkowski and sports broadcaster Nick Wright. Others participating in the new season are Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Tilly and soccer star Gerard Pique.
“Pokers Stars is committed to producing fun, quality poker entertainment — such as Big Game on Tour – and it’s humbling & thrilling to join the squad. I feel like I’m a part of something special & I can’t wait to share more of what we do with our community,” added PokerStars Director of North America Steve Preiss.
“PokerStars has always been, and continues to be, about the biggest names in poker, and the best in poker entertainment. Jason and Caitlin bring relevance, authenticity, expertise and humor, and their addition to the PokerStars team reinforces our commitment to bringing poker back to the big stage.”
Online poker in the US continues mini boom
It has been a busy couple of weeks for U.S. online poker. BetMGM Poker announced this week that it is now pooling players across New Jersey and Michigan. Rush Street announced that its online poker product from Phil Galfond, BetRivers Poker, is now live in Pennsylvania as well.
Moreover, Pennsylvania is taking steps to allow for shared liquidity, meaning that player pooling across as many as four states will soon be possible. For those in states without regulated online poker, the World Poker Tour is hoping to capitalize on interest with the launch of ClubWPT Gold early next year.
