I’m in Los Angeles, impatiently strolling aimlessly outside of the Staples Centre waiting for someone to let my wife and me into a Tool concert. We didn’t check our tickets or follow the correct process hence the problem. I feel like a tool.
I’m not alone.
As I look to my right, I see the actor Jai Courtney complaining about the same thing. Then I look to my left, and see Igor Kurganov and Liv Boeree, two more tools, it seems.
I give them both a hug.
It turns out that Tool is Kurganov’s favourite band. Odd. I thought it would have been Liv’s. I had Kurganov pinned down as a fan of the Noordpool Orchestra.
Tool has a song called ‘Hooker With a Penis,’ and that’s what some people were calling him back in 2017 when he decided to join the PokerStars payroll. It was a time when large swathes of the poker community stood outside of the barricaded doors of the Isle of Man offices, with nothing but empty magazine pouches for company.
But Kurganov is a smart man. He knew that PokerStars had made a mess of things, and to influence things moving forward, he had a better chance if he shared the same orbit. It was also a smart move given his role at Raising for Effective Giving (REG). Yeah, PokerStars was pissing people off, but REG was saving lives. It was a decision that irked some, but for others, it seemed a smart move.
Two years later, and none of that matters one iota. To steal one more Tool song title, PokerStars has been ‘Culling Voices’ from their ambassadorial ranks at a quickening pace, and Kurganov is the latest to leave.
Back in the Day
When Kurganov joined PokerStars, he was one of the most successful high rollers in the biz, winning more than $12m playing high stakes tournaments. His German and Russian background, effective altruism connections, and relationship with Boeree made him a marketing marvel.
Speaking at the time of his appointment, Kurganov called PokerStars ‘the driving force in the poker market,’ and the company he believed provided the ‘best poker experience.’
The appointment triggered a series of exceptional results for Kurganov. Together with Boeree, he won the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Tag Team Championship at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), for his only bracelet. In August of that year, he topped the 86-entrant field in the €50,000 No-Limit Hold’em PokerStars Championship Super High Roller in Barcelona for €1,084,100. Then he finished the year by winning a 52-entrant €25,500 No-Limit High Roller at the PokerStars Championship in Prague, beating JC Alvarado, heads-up, for €371,250.
He didn’t reach the same heights in 2018 & 2019, but did finish 4/99 in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller at the 2019 WSOP for $840,183, and bubbled the £1m Triton Million in London.
Boeree Also Billowing
Boeree joined PokerStars in 2010, making her one of the most experienced pros in the stable. The online poker giant picked her up shortly after her $1.7m EPT San Remo win, and at the time, it was a significant signing given her marketing potential.
The lady from the UK didn’t disappoint, spreading the PokerStars brand far and wide thanks to her polymathic broadcasting talents, and now she leaves to focus on those things.
Boeree has won $3.8m playing live tournaments. Although she isn’t a high rolling reg, she has appeared in several $25k+ events, including finishing 3/152 in a €25,500 No-Limit High Roller during the 2015 EPT Barcelona series for €391,000.
Who’s Left?
If you’re a high roller, then partypoker remain the likeliest online poker room to sign you up.
Jason Koon, Mikita Badziakouski, Isaac Haxton and Kristen Bicknell are high rollers that represent partypoker. Koon also doubles his time serving the Triton Poker brand where Tom Dwan joins him.
Bryn Kenney is the sole figurehead for GGPoker, although Michael Soyza and Danny Tang both represent GGPoker’s skin Natural8.
Michael Soyza once played in a rock band and even recorded an album. I doubt he ever had a song title as beautifully crafted as ‘Hooker With a Penis,” but you never know.