PokerStars has signed the winner of the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship, Ramón Colillas, to represent the brand in the wake of Jaime Staples and Jeff Gross leaving the company.
“I’m more excited about this than the even winning in the Bahamas.”
Ramón Colillas made that statement.
A name that’s still unfamiliar within the poker community. It’s no Blue Monday. Chris Moneymaker, now that was a Blue Monday name.
‘Ramón Colillas’ rolls off the tongue a sticky toffee apple.
All of that is about to change because the ‘thing’ that has Colillas more excited than winning $5.1m is a contract with PokerStars.
The PokerStars accounting department is about to shift Jaime Staples’ wages to a spreadsheet titled ‘Colillas’ as the Catalonian becomes the newest member of Team Pro.
In the press release that landed in my inbox, the man dubbed ‘The Chris Moneymaker of Spain,’ said he was ‘honoured’ to join Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker and the rest of the PokerStars team.
“I have admired them as a fan for a long time.” Said Colillas, referring to Negreanu and Moneymaker.
When PokerStars created the concept for the $25,000 PokerStars Players; No-Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC), it was in the hope that the journey would generate a host of Moneymaker type stories, and while Colillas doesn’t fit the bill internationally, he has become one of oft spoken about names in the integral Spanish market.
The former fitness trainer, turned multi-millionaire PokerStars brand ambassador, was one of the 320-poker players fortunate enough to win a $30,000 Platinum Pass, including a $25,000 seat into the PSPC.
PokerStars handed Colillas his pass after he topped the leaderboard at the PokerStars sponsored Campeonato de España de Poker (CEP), a live tour that the world’s largest online poker room has doubled down on in 2019.
Speaking of the appointment, Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars Director of Poker Marketing called Colillas ‘the next generation of poker player,’ and said that Ramón’s journey was the ‘stuff of legends.’
Colillas beat 1,039-entrants to win the inaugural PSPC, and the $5.1m first prize, and will wear the PokerStars patch for the first time in the Casino Barcelona where he defends his CEP Leaderboard title in a €1,010 High Roller event.
After the Barcelona leg of the CEP, Colillas makes his way to Sochi for the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT), then EPT Monte Carlo, EPT Open Madrid, the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and EPT Barcelona.
PokerStars have announced the signing of Colillas mere days after former PokerStars Team Pros, Jaime Staples and Jeff Gross announced that they had not renewed their contracts with the online giant.
