Jason Somerville leaves Team PokerStars

The Godfather of Twitch poker is leaving the site to spend more time on production, sports betting and streaming US-facing poker.

2019 was a significant year for poker sponsorship, so much so we said it was one of the biggest poker stories of that year, as a wave of ambassadors including Liv Boeree, Daniel Negreanu, Maria Konnikova, Barry Greenstein and Jaime Staples left PokerStars. 

2020 appears to be starting in the same manner as PokerStars Pro and Godfather of Twitch poker Jason Somerville has announced he is leaving the team. 

In his announcement he cited how difficult it was streaming for PokerStars in the US, wanting to concentrate on his production company RunItUp and his newfound love of sports betting, as his reasons for leaving.

a new year, a new chapter... pic.twitter.com/rj5Jn70XTq

— jcarver (@JasonSomerville) January 2, 2020

Somerville joined PokerStars in 2015 and the move was seen as a commitment to Twitch streaming by the site. He is widely considered the first pioneer of poker streaming on the platform and paved the way for the countless others to do the same. 

If you have ever spoken to him you'll know he is one of the brightest and most innovative minds behind-the-scenes that the poker industry has. So let's all hope his new ventures include plenty of poker in the future. 

Don't be surprised if we see a few more other big names announce their depatures from PokerStars soon after Somerville. No, we don't have any inside information, it is just that ambassador contract negotiations historically have happened at the same time every year at PokerStars so you often see all the departures happen in quick succession.  

Will we see anyone else leave this year? Let us know in the comments: