Former World Series of Poker Main Event Champion, Jonathan Duhamel, has parted ways with the online poker room giant, PokerStars, after four glorious years with Team Pro.
Jonathan Duhamel has parted ways with PokerStars.
As has become irritably standard with PokerStars, there was no fanfare, no bon voyage; hell…there wasn’t even a press release. Instead, we are left like vultures trying to eat off morsels we find on social media, or rumors we hear along the grapevine.
The Canadian’s life transformed in 2010. One minute he was as faceless as the next online cash game grinder, and the next he was breaking Matt Affleck’s heart, in one of the most popular poker hands in modern times. He would go on to be the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion. PokerStars would sign him in January 2011.
What a player!
This wasn’t your bog standard luck box who manages to win the WSOP Main Event and you never hear from him again. His levels of fearless aggression created an array of fans. His partnership with the largest online poker room in the world, opened pathways he never knew existed. He represented them as well as anyone. He became one of the greatest players of his day.
Take away the $8.9m he won the day he rocked the world, and he still amassed nearly $4m working for PokerStars. The only thing that eluded him during his tenure with the Red Spade was a second major title. But boy did he come close. He racked up 10 six-figure scores in the years following the big one, beating some of the world’s best players on the way. Let’s hope that the loss of his sponsorship doesn’t keep him away from the tables.
News first leaked of a potential split after he played at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown without wearing a PokerStars patch. His image has since been removed from the Team Pro roster, leaving Daniel Negreanu as the only remaining Canadian (Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Tyler Frost and Adrienne Rowse all represent Team Online Canada) representing the brand at Team Pro level.
There has been no official response from Duhamel on any of his social media channels.
