Hi all –

It is with great delight and profound regret that I announce that, effective April 1st, 2007, I will no longer be the poker room manager at PokerStars. [1]

The good news is that I am still going to be part of the PokerStars family. I will be working for John Duthie in the EPT, doing organization, hosting, and TV commentary. Furthermore, I will still be working as a consultant for PokerStars, helping with some PokerStars events, such as the PCA at the Atlantis and the World Cup of Poker. And I will show up sometimes at Sunday Million and WCOOP final tables.

Why the change? Well, it’s a wonderful opportunity for me to expand my horizons and stretch some new muscles. I will be at all the EPT events, doing final table announcing, and commentary on the TV shows and webcasts. [2] I love meeting and hanging out with the players so this will be great fun for me. And it will give me time to do some other projects, including actually playing a little poker!

Of course, the regret comes from leaving a job that I’ve had, and loved, for three and a half years. I’ve gotten to watch PokerStars go from a promising enterprise in third place on the online poker ladder to the clear market leader. And working hard daily to stay there. The people at PokerStars are an extraordinary bunch and I’ve been honored to be part of that team. I’m not going to start naming names for two reasons: (1) I’d be sure to leave out a really important name, and (2) there are simply too many of them. But from the senior management to the customer service representatives, these people have become not only colleagues but friends. I will miss acutely the day-to-day interaction with them.

I will also miss the day-to-day contact with the thousands of PokerStars players that I’ve come to know via email. The support you’ve given me these past years has been overwhelming and I am quite humbled by it. Furthermore, you’ve been quick to provide constructive criticism when I’ve made a wrong turn, and that’s just as important. I trust that you will provide my successor [3] with the same support and constructive criticism that you’ve given me.

But as I said, I’ll still be around. I’ll be at plenty of live events (particularly in Europe), and I’ll be occasionally posting here. Most of my posts will be signed “Regards, Lee”, indicating it’s my personal opinion. If I have cause to post representing the EPT, I’ll be sure to note that.

But for now, I’ll sign off as I have since October of 2003, proud to say…

Best regards,
Lee Jones
PokerStars Poker Room Manager

[1] No, this is not an April Fool’s joke.

[2] The first webcast, from the Dortmund, Gernany EPT, was the nuts – people loved it. We’re going to do it from Monte Carlo too and it will be bigger and better.

[3] That person is yet to be named, but we’ve got a few really good candidates.