PokerStars secures sponsorship deal with eSports team

The deal will see several Team Liquid pros introduce poker into their gaming repertoire, showcasing online poker to brand new audiences on their highly popular Twitch channels, demonstrating the similar skills, challenges and competitive elements that poker shares with eSports.

Some members will also take part in PokerStars-sponsored events like the European Poker Tour in Barcelona later this year, test new online products such as the recently-launched Knockout Poker, and compete in some of PokerStars' biggest online tournaments.

Three of the Team Liquid streamers initially involved will be Janne "Savjz" Mikkonen from Finland, Jeffrey "Sjow" Brusi from Sweden, and Dario "TLO" Wünsch from Germany, who are world-renowned experts in Hearthstone and StarCraft. The players, some of whom have extensive poker experience, will play and stream some of the most exciting poker tournaments and game formats on PokerStars.

"I'm happy to announce that I'll be streaming poker under the PokerStars flag," said Sjow. "I used to play a lot before I started my eSports career and it's a very interesting and complex game. If you want to see an old poker player relearn the game, tune in to my stream."

Savjz, who has won multiple Hearthstone events, also has some background in poker.

"I'm no stranger to the game," Savjz said. "I used to play a lot in the past. PokerStars is the most respected and reliable company in that business, so I'm super excited to be sponsored by them."

There is one poker novice among the crew, however, in the form of TLO, who recently made the top eight at DreamHack Leipzig.

"Poker and StarCraft have always been two scenes very close to each other," TLO said. "Both are games of incomplete information with incredibly high skill ceilings. I'm looking forward to trying myself out in poker and viewers will be able to see me learn the game as a total amateur on my Twitch channel."