Partypoker is upping its Twitch game with the addition of Lui Martins to its ever-growing team of streaming personalities.
Announced on Nov. 18, Martins joins Jeff Gross and Jamie Staples as the newest member of Partypoker’s Twitch Team Online.
Boasting a strong gaming background, the Brazilian built his following by streaming World of Warcraft and Quake sessions. Like Bertrand Grospellier and Randy Lew before him, Martins has since combined his love of video games with poker.
From Gaming to Partypoker
Taking his early experiences in home games and applying skills learned from Warcraft, Martins has found poker success both in live games, and online. His most notable score came at the WSOP International Circuit Main Event in 2016, where he finished fourth in a field of 1,002, earning nearly $80,000.
Since that performance, Martins has increased his presence online, and now has more than 150,000 total views on his Twitch channel.
By signing Martins, Partypoker will give gaming fans more reasons to tune into poker while, at the same time, increasing their brand’s status in Latin America.
This use of Twitch personalities as brand ambassadors has become common as the poker industry has evolved. PokerStars started the trend thanks to its longstanding links with pro gaming outfits, such as Team Liquid. From there, more online poker operators have launched their own channels and signed popular streamers.
While increasingly popular, the effectiveness of these innovations remains unclear.
Gaming Streams May Not Lead to Floods of Poker Players
While a presence on Twitch is almost mandatory at this point, it may not provide poker sites with the influx of players many might expect.
Evidence of this can be seen in a recent announcement by PokerStars. After launching Power Up in 2017, the operator canned the innovation. The poker/eSports hybrid was designed to create a new type of game where players could use special powers to boost their chances of winning a hand.
Although unique, Power Up failed to catch fire in the same way as similar games, such as Spin & Go tournaments.
That demise of Power Up may not be definitive proof that fewer gamers than expected are taking up poker. However, it suggests operators may need new ways to engage fans of games like Fortnite.
Signing Twitch streamers is one way sites are hoping to expand their player pools, but attracting higher profile names may be necessary. Partypoker’s signing of Martins may be popular with certain gamers, but his profile can’t match that of stars like Richard Tyler Blevins, aka Ninja.
