According several reports, the first of which was published Monday by Poker Player Newspaper, Gabriel “Gabi” Campos Woslovsky is leaving his post as Chief Executive Officer of PokerStars. No replacement has been named.
Wendeen Eolis first wrote in Poker Player Newspaper that the initial word of the change surfaced last Friday at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the latest stop on the European Poker Tour (EPT). The publication verified the rumor with a PokerStars “insider” later in the day. PokerNews has also corroborated the story, receiving a statement from “top officials” at the world’s largest poker room which read:
“PokerStars announced today that Gabi Campos has decided to step down from his position as Chief Executive Officer, effective Feb. 1, 2012, to pursue other opportunities. The company thanks Gabi for his hard work and commitment and wishes him the best in all his future endeavors. A search for Gabi’s replacement is under way.”
Campos was named CEO of PokerStars in July 2010 and officially stepped into the position on October 4th. He had plenty of online gaming experience already, coming over from 888.com’s B2B arm, Dragonfish. 888’s financial figures were down when he left, but that was not because of Dragonfish. Under Campos, Dragonfish saw its revenues increase by 33 percent from 2008 to 2009 and the business unit contributed about 20 percent of 888’s overall revenue.
The previous leadership of the company remained in place when Campos joined, ensuring a smooth transition to Campos’ reign. PokerStars’ founder, Isai Scheinberg, stayed on as Chief Technical Officer, while his son, Mark, became Chairman of the company.
Campos is now the third high profile PokerStars official to leave the company in less than a year. The first, European Poker Tour tournament director Thomas Kremser, announced his departure in May 2011. Earlier this month, John Duthie ended both his stint as a PokerStars pro and as the CEO of the European Poker Tour, which he created. Both Kremser and Duthie cited the desire to seek out new “challenges” and “ventures” as reasons for their exits.
Big names more familiar to poker fans have split from PokerStars, as well. About a year ago, 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Greg Raymer, a mainstay at Stars and one of the most well-spoken and outspoken advocates for poker in United States, ended his affiliation with the online poker room. Last month, 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem did the same.
“It’s been a great run with PokerStars and I’m proud of my association with the people and the company,” Hachem said in an official announcement at the time. “But it’s time for me to pursue other career opportunities and it will be fun to have some down time to spend with my family. I look forward to the future with much excitement and anticipation and will always have fond memories of my time at PokerStars.”
Despite the loss of U.S. customers since Black Friday, PokerStars still remains the largest online poker room in the world. According to PokerScout.com, Stars has a seven-day average of 26,000 cash game players, six times as many as the next largest site, PartyPoker.
