Live League Ambassador chosen! HE is the new PokerStars Team Pro!

At the end of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris, the time had come: After a year of points grinding in the 3 tiers of the PokerStars Live League Leaderboard, an extensive application and subsequent selection process, the new PokerStars Ambassador has now been chosen from the respective top 10 of the High, Medium, and Low tiers. Among the candidates at the end of the PokerStars Live 2025 season were four German-speaking poker players: Klemens Roiter, Andreas Froehli, Chris Nguyen, and Leon Sturm.

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Jury decision crowns the new Ambassador

30 players had qualified for the PokerStars Ambassador “casting” in the top 10 of their respective tiers at the end of the PokerStars Live League season. One of them was to enjoy a €100,000 contract, which includes starts at the largest PokerStars Live League events in 2026. Questionnaires were sent to them covering various areas relevant to a future ambassador. According to PokerStars, the response rate was very good. A 13-member jury, consisting of 12 PokerStars representatives and 1 independent member, then had to decide on those who applied for the spot in the PokerStars Team Pro. The result of the vote was announced at the end of EPT Paris.

This is how the selection process and the election went:

These were the 30 PokerStars Ambassador candidates:

David Lappin enters the Irish Open as the new PokerStars Ambassador

David Lappin has been an integral part of the poker scene for 20 years, as a player, poker journalist, and above all, as a podcaster. He became known to a wider audience alongside Dara O’Kearney in their joint format “The Chip Race,” for which the duo won the Global Poker Award 3 times. In 2024, he had also already won a $10,000 NAPT Las Vegas Gold Pass in a scavenger hunt, which the Irishman successfully completed.

This time he went hunting for Live League points, which he finished with the lowest score of all 30 players, thus sliding into the selection process as the last one. That wasn’t the only nerve-wracking, daring decision, as he and his podcast partner O’Kearney parted ways with WPT Global, and he was now on his own, without a podcast partner and without sponsorship. But despite the decision to quit with his previous sponsor, he was able to completely convince the PokerStars jury to give him their trust and the €100,000 buy-in.

“David combines being deeply rooted in the live poker scene with being a respected voice that players listen to,” said PokerStars Associate Director of Live Events Operation Cedric Bilot, explaining the decision in favor of Lappin. “This balance of experience and authenticity makes him an ideal representative for PokerStars.”

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Lappin himself is very grateful to PokerStars for the opportunity and the selection, which he expressed as follows during the appointment:
“I have always believed that ambassadors should represent the players, not just a brand,” Lappin said in a statement. “I am incredibly grateful to the Live League and the path it has allowed me to take to become a PokerStars ambassador.”

Lappin said that PokerStars has always been a huge part of his game, and he looks forward to continuing the relationship while wearing the red spade on his clothing. “It’s the platform where I played to become a professional poker player. When you think of the websites from back then, PokerStars is the only one still around!

David Lappin’s greatest tournament successes

David Lappin is a true poker veteran. Since 2007, the Irishman has been on the live poker circuit throughout Europe and North America. In tournaments with buy-ins between €100 and €500, the Dubliner has reached countless final tables. He has recorded successes in side events at the Dublin Poker Festival, the 888poker Destination Venice, the WPT National in Copenhagen, the Estrellas Poker Tour in Marbella, the EPT Prague,