Over the last few weeks the PokerStars Pro Tour has been traveling around California promoting regulated online poker in California.
The tour wrapped up over the weekend with stops in Turlock and Fresno and has been heralded as a complete success.
Purpose of the Tour
The PokerStars Pro Tour was part of the "Let California Play!" initiative by the advocacy group Californians for Responsible iPoker.
The purpose of the group is to expand awareness of online poker throughout California and convince players to take the initiative to contact their legislators to support online poker sites in California.
Starting on July 17 PokerStars began holding single-day events at California card rooms where players could meet Team PokerStars players, ask questions about PokerStars and California iPoker and play against them in a live poker tournament.
PokerStars Team Pros Daniel Negreanu, Liv Boeree, Jason Somerville, Chris Moneymaker and Vanessa Selbst all took part in the tour. The tour created a unique opportunity for players to interact with their favorite players and meet executives with the company.
Negreanu Stresses Importance of Contacting Legislators
It's not surprising that Daniel Negreanu was among the most popular of the Team PokerStars pros that attended the various events. Negreanu spoke with PokerNews.com recently and stressed the reason why chose to be part of this tour.
He told PokerNews, "The main reason I'm here is to get these guys to sign up to Californians4iPoker.com, so every time we do the Q&As I try to remind [the people] why we're here because their voices need to be heard."
"The whole purpose of this is to get as many people signed up as possible, so that when we make a push down the stretch run the politicians know, 'OK, this is an issue that people care about.'"
Tour Also Raised Funds for Many Worthy Charities
The PokerStars Pro Tour was more than just a platform for regulation. It was also a way to help give back as several of the events worked with various charities to raise money for those less fortunate.
At the 500 Club Casino stop, 100% of the proceeds from the tournament went to Valley Children's Hospital in Madera, CA. The Stones Gambling Hall event raised over $10,000 for Make-A-Wish
What's Next For PokerStars Pro Tour?
With the summer PokerStars Pro Tour now completed fans will have to wait until later this year to get another chance to take part. The company lists upcoming events as "to be determined" but hasn't discounted holding more events in the future.
As the California legislative session is less than a month away from concluding it seems that iPoker will roll over to 2016. As such, PokerStars may wait until next year to hold the next leg of their tour. However, if it wants to build buzz for iPoker in 2016 its best bet would be to hold a fall tour and then possibly another in the spring of 2016.