Andre Akkari might be the first poker pro in history to pick up a sponsorship deal with a footwear company.
The famed Brazilian poker pro announced via Instagram yesterday that he’s signed a deal with German footwear giant Puma.
It’s the first time that Puma has dipped its feet in the poker world and it likely has something to do with the fact Akkari has a huge following in Brazil and is friends with soccer sensation Neymar, who also has a deal with PokerStars.
Akkari Poker Earnings Exceed $4.5m
Andre Akkari has accrued over $1.5m in live tournament earnings and is one of a select group of Brazilians who have won WSOP gold bracelets.
Akkari picked up $675,117 and his gold bracelet for outlasting 2,857 entries in a $1,500 NLHE event at the 2011 WSOP.
Prior to that Akkari was a well-established online pro who built a fearsome reputation as aakkari on PokerStars with over $3.3m in online winnings.
That led to a sponsorship deal with PokerStars, and he as represented the company for over six years now.
More recently Akkari served as the team manager or the Sao Paulo Metropolitans in the Global Poker League.
Puma is without question one of the most mainstream companies to sign a deal a poker pro.
Some of the other big mainstream deals over the years have included Vanessa Rousso’s GoDaddy deal, Phil Hellmuth with Milwaukee’s Best and more recently PokerStars has teamed up with eSports giant Team Liquid.
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