Amaya Gaming Pivots Towards Asia In Pursuit Of iPoker Growth

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Thursday, March 19th, 2015 | Written by Lucy Brown

When Amaya Gaming acquired the Rational Group last year, it was clear the Canadian company had big plans for it PokerStars brand and would be pursuing a strategy of aggressive growth across the world. After all, the purchase came with a hefty $4.9 billion price tag, and so in order to make the deal worthwhile Amaya has since been introducing a whole host of new ways to increase revenues, including adding casino games to its traditional poker product, raising the rake levels in those regulated jurisdictions with additional taxes or VAT, and in particular seeking out new markets which present the best opportunity to increase its customer base.

Unsurprisingly, Asia with 4.43 billion people out of a world population of 7 billion people has become the focus of increasing attention by PokerStars, especially with the Asian market representing a relatively untapped continent as far as online poker is concerned. This potential growth can translate into a significant stream of new revenues for PokerStars, which is being increasingly reflected in Amaya Gaming’s branding expansion into Asia as it attempts to capture as much of the market as possible.

Asian Sponsored Pros

In March, Amaya Gaming announced a number of poker initiatives designed to grow the game in Asia’s emerging poker market, including adding a number of Asian players to its stable of sponsored pros. At the beginning of 2015, for instance, Aditya Agarwal became PokerStars’ first ever member of Team Pro India, while Japanese players Kosei Ichinose joined Japanese WSOP bracelet winner Naoya Kihara at Team Pro Japan. As a hugely successful online pro with $2,315,638 in earnings under the screen name ‘Shinbunshi’, as well as a further $305,677 won in the live arena, Kosei Ichinose is certainly a player many Asian poker enthusiasts will seek to emulate, and as Kristy Thompson, Head of Pro and Celebrity Marketing, commented at the time:

“The signing of these Team Pros from India and Japan is an important step in helping promote the game in countries where poker is only just coming to the fore. Both players are highly respected within the poker sphere, and their success and passion for the game will no doubt spread throughout their local and national communities.”

Glamorous Japanese Model Latest Signing

However, it’s not just young Asians with incredible poker talents which are being sought out by PokerStars, and this week the site announced the addition of a stunning Japanese model and actress by the name of Yuiko Matsukawa. The 24 year-old beauty will now act as a celebrity brand ambassador for PokerStars, and she recently brightened up the tournament of a number of players after competing at the Macau Poker Cup hosted at the PokerStars LIVE venue in the world’s biggest gambling enclave. Commenting on her experience playing at one of the stops on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Yuiko Matsukawa said:

“I was honored to participate in a major poker event as a PokerStars brand ambassador. In the beginning, I was a bit nervous, but eventually I found myself enjoying the game in a relaxed mood. I really appreciate my fans that cheered me on during the competition.”

Supporting The APPT

In addition to PokerStars LIVE in Macau playing permanent host to Asia’s most popular and successful poker tournaments, such as the Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP), Macau Poker Cup series and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau poker festival, the world’s biggest poker site has also recently announced it was to become the chief sponsor of a brand new tournament intended to promote the growth of poker in China, called the Nanjing Millions. PokerStars and the APPT are hoping that hosting a major poker tournament at the Beijing Star Poker Club in China’s capital city will help to attract players from all across the country, and as APPT President Danny McDonagh, explains:

“The growth of poker in China has been tremendous and we are committed to support this sport throughout the region. Nanjing is a key location that allows players from all over the country to participate. The previous two Beijing events last year were very successful and we are proud to be a part of this government-supported event.”

Other Areas Of Growth

During PokerStars’ recent press release, Amaya Gaming also talked about a number of other areas the company was focusing on to help promote growth in the poker market, with live streaming considered a particularly promising avenue of exploration. Twitch, for instance, attracts more than 100 million viewers each month and recently several sponsored poker pros, such as Jason Somerville, Jaime Staples, Randy “Nanonoko” Lew, and Betrand Grospellier have started streaming broadcasts of their own, with the majority of their fans including young, male users, a demographic targeted by advertisers. As a result, PokerStars has now launched its own official Twitch channel which hosts content exclusively from PokerStars pros.