Still working with the social media personality

Earlier this month, it appeared as though GGPoker was wiping its hands of Dan Bilzerian and no longer claiming the playboy as a brand ambassador. GGPoker removed images of Bilzerian from the poker website, and reports began to surface that he was let go on International Women’s Day, interesting timing because of his history of poor treatment of women.

However, now we know that GGPoker did not let Bilzerian go, and the poker room is still working with him. A post on Twitter confirmed the relationship:

GGPoker apparently plans to continue to work closely with Bilzerian and will announce new partnership activities in the next few months. What that might entail is anyone’s guess.

Why remove Dan Bilzerian from the GGPoker Ambassador page?

Now that GGPoker has confirmed it is still working with the playboy, why did they remove him from the website? On International Women’s Day, his image and his name were no longer listed on the site, and his in-game emotes were also missing. Even though GGPoker says they are working with Bilzerian, his images are not yet back on the site.

quickly discovered firsthand how controversial he is

The poker world assumed the disappearance of Bilzerian-related content meant that GGPoker had enough of him and his antics. The brand signed him on as an ambassador in late 2020 and quickly discovered firsthand how controversial he is.

Shortly after GGPoker hired Bilzerian, he made disparaging remarks to Canadian poker player and streamer Vanessa Kade. He stated on Twitter: “Quiet hoe, nobody knows who you are” after she called out GGPoker for signing him.

GGPoker seemed to take the side of its new ambassador. Instead of apologizing to Kade, the poker room closed her legacy affiliate account. The brand did not acknowledge any wrongdoing by Bilzerian or the company.

Why choose to maintain the partnership?

It is unclear why GGPoker wants to maintain its relationship with Dan Bilzerian, especially considering all the controversy surrounding the partnership. Bilzerian didn’t even promote the platform on his heavily-followed social media channels.

Bilzerian even backed out of a heads-up match for the brand. The poker room held a freeroll in conjunction with his birthday, with the winner slated to play Bilzerian heads-up. Science writer Alex O’Brien was to be that challenger, but a year after neither GGPoker nor Bilzerian reached out to schedule anything, Americas Cardroom pitted O’Brien against Kade with the winnings going to charity.

GGPoker claims to be working on female player outreach, with the platform now including six women as ambassadors. The brand hosts female-focused events at the site to bring in more women players. It seems the issue with Dan Bilzerian may affect the poker room, potentially negating any improvement the brand has made regarding women.