Joe Cada let go by PokerStars

Russian tournament pro Alex Kravchenko and Dutch number one Marcel Luske also axed from Team Pro roster.

PokerStars has made another cut to its team of sponsored professionals, and headlining the latest list of casualties is 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada.

Cada recently became the first Main Event winner since 2003 champion Carlos Mortensen to bag a second bracelet when he took down the $10k six-max event at this year's series, and in doing so took his career earnings tally in live tournaments into eight figures.

It wasn't long ago that the biggest brands in the business were fighting to lay out a red carpet for a world champion with $10m+ in career winnings, and on current form, his release is testament to how tough keeping hold of a sponsorship deal is these days.

Just look at his fellow champions of the boom era. Raymer, Hachem Eastgate and Heinz have all been let go, now only Moneymaker's position remains in tact.

Flying Dutchman flying solo

Cada isn't the only one who's lost his sponsorship deal since the Amaya takeover, far from it in fact.

Marcel Luske, the Netherlands' most successful ever tournament player, is also missing from the Team PokerStars page, as is Russian 2007 WSOP Main Event final tablist Alex Kravchenko.

Plus, Latin American trio Humberto Brenes, Nacho Barbero and Angel Guillen were all released by the world's largest site back in August, which was around the same time that Ultimate Poker cut its team of professionals in half.

The current state of the industry certainly isn't ideal for acquiring sponsorships, but Cada's fellow Main Event champion Greg Merson recently signed with WSOP.com, and rumours are now circulating that the Michigan man will be next to join the US-based site.

Do you think world champions are still marketable? Are long contracts now a thing of the past? Will Cada join team WSOP next? Let us know in the comments box.

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