I think the site representative market is overly saturated. FTP signs people on the cheap because 'you never know'. But in the end the value of a pro is measured in the players he will bring in to the site. And seriously, Dwan will not do that for FTP. He is an awkward guy. Hell, FTP already have that quota filled with Seidel and Cunningham.

Also, I think we are highly overestimating the value of many of the 'pro' deals. Some (Hellmuth, Moneymaker, ownership in FTP etc) are probably very lucrative but most are quite likely far below what you would expect.

He has already made one.

i find it pretty refreshing that they retain no allegiances.

IMO he stands out quite a bit and has plenty of personality, likeable or not (Matusow, Hellmuth). The problem re: sponsorship is that he doesn't really have mass appeal. Generally that's a good thing, but from the p.o.v of an online site, somebody more accesible and cheaper is a better investment. The demographic where Durrr is most successful-online 18-22yo males-already play poker.

How does improving popularity of the sport=selling out?

Since he is representing a poker site why would he need to be known outside of poker.

cuz only 2+2 think they are the best? even though they really are the best.

I would be surprised if Tom Dwan and Phil Galfond were offered anything other than a "standard" deal from FullTiltPoker.net.

The U.S. market, even before the passage of the UIGEA, was maturing rapidly.

==

Western, Central, and Southern Europe are now mature.

Eastern Europe is one area where players are being signed in 2008.

The Russian market is one example where the "dominoes" are falling into place. Once PokerStars.net signed Alex Kravchenko and Kirill Gerasimov prior to the start of the 2008 WSOP, the group of Russian players who achieved results at the 2008 WSOP, namely Vitaly Lunkin (bracelet event winner), Nikolay Evdakov (10 cashes), and Svetlana Gromenkova (Ladies event winner), all signed with FullTiltPoker.net.

PokerStars.net finally signed a player in Poland prior to the start of the 2008 WSOP Main Event: former junior skier and management consultant Marcin Horecki.

There are two "hot" candidates available in Hungary: Denes Kalo (2nd place at the 2008 EPT Grand Final) and Valdemar Kwaysser (LAPT Costa Rica winner). Will PokerStars.net sign either one? We shall see.

Eastern Europe will be mature by the time the 2009 WSOP arrives.

==

The one part of the world where the poker "gold rush" is currently taking place is Latin America.

Brazil is another market where the "dominoes" are falling into place. Once PokerStars.net signed two "Team PokerStars.net Pros" in Andre Akkari (prior to the 2007 WSOP Main Event) and Alexandre Gomes (in 2008, 5 days after he won Brazil's first WSOP bracelet), two poker TV analysts for a major Brazilian sports TV network who were sponsored by PartyPoker.net through the 2008 WSOP, Christian Kruel and Raul Oliveira, signed with FullTiltPoker.net during the past month after PartyPoker.net chose to cut back on its marketing activities in Latin America.

FullTiltPoker.net also established a presence in Spanish-speaking Latin America when it signed veteran Mexican-American TV personality Gabriela Hill, who has been announcing poker, in particular the WSOP, for a major Latin American sports TV network (beamed to over 20 countries from Mexico to Argentina) since 2004. (Disclosure: I have been Gabriela's poker agent since December 2007.) pokerforums.fulltiltpoker.com recently opened a Spanish-language forum section for Spanish-speaking players.

I understand that FullTiltPoker.net will air 40 hours of branded poker programming on a major Latin American sports TV network in 2009. (I am not allowed to post the name of the network, but you should know which network I am talking about.)

Another interesting market to watch is Argentina, where the prime candidate to land a sponsorship deal is Veronica Dabul, who has 4 WSOP cashes in 2 years (including cashes at both the 2007 and 2008 WSOP Main Events). I understand that PokerStars.net evaluated Veronica at the LAPT event in Punta del Este (where she cashed).

Oliver, hook me up with a job going around 'evaluating' female poker talent in Latin America and Eastern Europe. k thx

This thread made me lol so many times, sometimes i dont think NVG is really THAT ******ed but threads like these confirm it beyond a shadow of doubt.

Good post by DN though

they're too balla ldo

You obviously know who Galfond is....not! Please put your foam helmet on so you don't hurt yourself. Phil would be an excellent choice for FT. Durrrr is awesome, just doesn't interview as well. Daniel summed up the reason why they aren't signed yet more than likely.

The people you are referring to still made a bigger contribution to this thread than your pointless snipe did.

Not trying to make fun or be racist but in Durrrr is really ghey FTP should sign him to compete with the market DN was able to get?

racist

He only makes money when he sells his stock.

your association with clay aiken is also stopping u from getting signed ldo

dividends

maybe both of them dont chase the limelight.

some people out there that are not fame hungry, believe it or not

Daniel is affiliated with Stars, now, but he had his own site. Doyle has a site. Maybe they want to start their own site? Why don't the existing sites have Humberto Brenes to appeal to the moron crowd, btw? And the fact that David Degenyamine is not signed is such a joke, do the french not play the pokerz????

Yeah, except all they're contributing is ******edness, which is negative really so they'd do better to just not respond. For example people just saying LOL at DN's response which is likely the most reputable and legit response in the whole thread. Wtf?

Ok, my claim is nobody cares about Daniel N. outside of poker. Your claim seems to be the opposite. 5 links to interviews/features in big mainstream / non-poker publications please.

lets see, maybe he:
-enjoys travelling around the world
-sees a lot of value (dead money) in high stakes live tournaments
-knows that the big tournaments will spawn big side games with soft players

also, some people dont enjoy sitting on their asses for their whole life, acknowledge that theres life outside their house and that the USA isnt the center of the world.

in short, youre a ****ing ******

If these places are blowing up how come we aren't seeing big increases in the player bases...

lol @ Beth Shak comparaments.