PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari Pens Sponsorship Deal With Puma
At a time when the sponsorship of any pro poker player by a poker site is extremely hard to come by, Brazilian pro Andre Akkari has managed to not only stay on PokerStars roster for several years, but now he's been recruited to represent global sportswear brand, Puma, as well.
41 year old family man Akkari has been a solid tournament winner at PokerStars for over a decade with over $3.3m in cashes at the site he represents as a Team Pro. He also has over $1.5m in live tourney winnings, including a $675k WSOP bracelet win from a 2011 $1500 NLHE event.
More than for his results though, Akkari has achieved true star status is his native Brazil due to his tireless efforts to promote the game around the country, and to give something back to the game which has enabled him to travel the world and make a better life for his family. Akkari is a regular on the Latin American and Brazilian poker tours. Such is his popularity that he recently had the opportunity to carry the olympic flame in the run up to the Rio games last month.
At the time of writing the details of Akkari's Puma deal have yet to be released, but the fact that a major international brand is looking to use a poker pro to promote their brand is surely a positive for the industry. It's usually PokerStars who are looking to pay sports stars to promote poker, so to see the tables turned is turn up for the books.