It was exactly a month ago, Ramon Colillas from Spain, hit the headlines by taking down the inaugural PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC) for $5.1 million.
What was even more incredible about his victory was that he qualified for the $25,000 event for free as he was among one of the 320 players to win a Platinum Pass package worth $30,000.
His remarkable victory was exactly what PokerStars could have hoped for—an unknown player and a Platinum Pass winner outlasting the largest $25,000 buy-in tournament ever held. He is even being hailed as the Spanish Chris Moneymaker for his incredible achievement.
Now, the 30-year-old Spaniard is in the spotlight again. PokerStars today announced that he has become a member of Team PokerStars joining the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker, Liv Boeree, Igor Kurganov, Lex Veldhuis, Andree Akkari and others.
“I am honoured to join Daniel Negreanu, Chris and all the members of Team PokerStars who I have admired as a fan for a very long time,” said Ramon Colillas, the newest PokerStars Team member.
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Until now, PokerStars had nobody from Spain representing its brand for over two years. Leo Margets (who now represents Winamax) was the last pro from Spain to join Team PokerStars.
Colillas will now be representing PokerStars at various live tours including the PokerStars sponsored Campeonato Espana de Poker (CEP) tour starting today. This tour is quite a special one for the Spaniard as he won the €1010 buy-in High Roller last year at Casino de Barcelona. He will now look to defend the title.
From there, Colillas will head to Russia for EPT Sochi in March and then Monte Carlo as well as EPT Open in Madrid. He will also be playing in the 50th anniversary of World Series of Poker (WSOP) and then head to EPT Barcelona which will presumably be held in August and September.
“Ramón’s journey is the stuff of legends and his humility, spirit and personality perfectly reflect the aspirations we see among young poker players around the world,” said Eric Hollreiser PokerStars Director of Poker Marketing.
“Ramón is a great representative of the next generation of poker players and we’re delighted to welcome him as an ambassador for PokerStars,” said Hollreiser.
His Journey to Platinum Pass and Team Pro
Colillas, 30, studied at the Faculty of Sciences for Physical Activity and Sport and worked as a fitness trainer from Barcelona. According to PokerStars, he started playing poker professionally at the age of 24.
Prior to his win at the PSPC, he had just over $11,000 in live tournament poker earnings, with his best score coming at the Winamax SiSMIX event in Marrakesh in May last year for finishing 19th to take home nearly $5000.
However, his career took off at the Campeonato de España de Poker (CEP) tour in 2018 where he topped the leaderboard to earn himself a Platinum Pass package. He cashed in three tournaments including a win in €1010 buy-in High Roller tournament as previously mentioned.
Interestingly, in November 2018, he was also crowned champion of the 888 sponsored Campeonato Nacional de Poker 2018 (CNP), another big Spanish live tour. He not only won the first place prize but was also awarded a 2019 WSOP Main Event package for his efforts.
Although he had two wins and four cashes in 11 competitive events under his belt, not much was known about him at the PSPC. According to his Hendon Mob profile, he had just over $11,000 in live tournament poker earnings prior to the PSPC.
All this changed in the Bahamas after he outlasted a field of 1039 entries to win the biggest $25,000 buy-in tournament in history. The tournament drew another 719 players besides the 320 Platinum Pass winners to create a prize pool in excess of $26 million. His $5.1 million cash is also the biggest prize ever won by a Spanish player in live poker, and he is now sitting in fourth position on Spain’s All Time Money list.
“I have fulfilled another dream,” Colillas said to PokerStars Blog. “Champion of Spain, champion of the PSPC and now representative of the best poker room. Can you ask for more?”
“When you start in poker you always think about Team Pro, and wonder whether you could ever get there,” Colillas says. “I was still savouring the PSPC win and suddenly this opportunity came in. This is what you always dream of. The tournament was just the start. Now I’m more excited about this than the even winning in the Bahamas.”
“I am very excited and hopefully it will last for many years,” he added.
The new addition to Team PokerStars follows the departure of Jaime Staples and Jeff Gross, former representatives of the site.
