Partypoker continues to rapidly add players to the company’s new Team Online initiative, adding three more players so far this week alone.
Ryan Schoonbaert, Courtney Gee, and Steven Kok are the latest additions to the group, bringing the Partypoker Team Online stable to eight players in total.
More Popular Twitch Streamers Join the Team
The additions continue to round out a group that Partypoker hopes will bring their operation up to speed with competitors when it comes to engaging the poker community through Twitch streaming and other online projects.
Matt Staples, Hristivoje Pavlovic, Travis Darroch, Patrick Tardif, and Alan Widmann had all previously been announced as members of the new team.
Schoonbaert, who goes by “RSchoonbaert” on the online felt, is a Canadian player who specializes in mixed games. Formerly a live grinder, the 27-year-old has now become a familiar face on Twitch, often streaming marathon sessions in which he plays a variety of different game types.
“I’m very proud and excited to be one of the initial members to join Team Online,” Schoonbaert said in a post on the Partypoker blog. “[I] can’t wait to continue moving up the stakes while streaming the entire journey on Twitch.”
The announcement that Gee would be joining the squad gave Partypoker Team Online its first female member. Gee, who plays under the screen name “courtiebee,” is a Canadian pro who streams tournament play, including fast-paced heads-up sit and go contests. Gee already has a loyal Twitch following known as “the Swarm,” which has grown over the course of four years of streams.
On Wednesday, Kok became the eighth member of the team. The Dutch pro brings a slightly different perspective to the team, as he became interested in online poker after watching other Twitch streamers play the game. A member of the RaiseYourEdge training team, Kok now has more than 10,000 followers of his own.
Partypoker All-In on Twitch Strategy
The flurry of signings over the past two weeks comes after Partypoker made it clear that it planned to revamp its streaming strategy. After the signing of Staples, Partypoker managing director Tom Waters acknowledged that the poker room had been slow to adapt to the importance of Twitch.
“We have been a bit behind the curve when it comes to streaming, but we are hoping to make up for lost time by compiling an elite team that will be able to stream entertaining and engaging content 24/7,” Waters said in a blog post on the Partypoker website.
Partypoker’s pivot to streaming content goes beyond signing existing Twitch stars. The online poker room plans to have existing sponsored pros like Fedor Holz and Patrick Leonard host Twitch sessions for the company. The company has also partnered with “The Thirst Lounge,” a Twitch channel launched by high stakes poker players Bill Perkins in 2016.
