At the start of January, Ramon Colillas was one of a couple hundred fortunate winners of a Platinum Pass to the Bahamas. A month later, he's now a Team PokerStars Pro after binking the largest tournament in the history of poker tournaments. PokerStars tapped the Spanish Chris Moneymaker to join Chris Moneymaker and help promote PokerStars throughout Spain, Europe, and the rest of the world.
Living the dream! That's what it feels like to start out as a nobody and then becoming a somebody. At this point, just say Roman Colillas and everyone in poker knows who you are talking about. He's the modern-day Chris Moneymaker. Colillas parlayed a satellite into the largest prize in tournament poker. It's fitting that the Spanish Chris Moneymaker is now a PokerStars Team pro.
PokerStars announced the good news. Roman Colillas is now a sponsored player. This is coming one week after two of the biggest streamers in the world, Jamie Staples and Jeff Gross, stepped away from PokerStars after promoting the red spade for numerous years on Twitch and YouTube.
Roman Colillas got tapped to become an ambassador. The 30-year old from Barcelona is also the Spanish Poker Champion. He was at the top of the leaderboard at the right time. PokerStars handed out Platinum Passes to various leaderboard champs. Colillas parlayed that platinum ticket to paradise.
And in the Bahamas, he survived a field of donks and sharks to emerge $5.1 million richer. The PSPC win rocketed him into the Top 5 on the all-time Spanish money list. But wait... it gets even better. Now he gets to wear the red spade and patch and plug the awesomeness of PokerStars.
"When you start in poker you always think about Team Pro," Collilas told PokerStars Blog. "And wonder whether you could ever get there. I was still savoring 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. I am honored to join Daniel Negreanu, Chris and all the members of Team PokerStars who I have admired as a fan for a very long time."
Yes, Roman is now rubbing shoulders with KidPoker and "Chris" aka Moneymaker. He's hit the big time. But he's no slouch. He paid his dues grinding the Spanish boards for a full year. He was dedicated to honing his craft and his hard work paid dividends.
Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars Director of Poker Marketing, had gushing things to say about his newest ambassador. "Ramon's journey is the stuff of legends and his humility," said Hollreiser. "Spirit and personality perfectly reflect the aspirations we see among young poker players around the world. Ramon is a great representative of the next generation of poker players and we're delighted to welcome him as an ambassador for PokerStars."
Roman Colillas
I have fulfilled another dream. Champion of Spain, champion of the PSPC and now representative of the best poker room. Can you ask for more?
You can find Colillas pimping Stars at the Barcelona installation of the Campeonato Espana de Poker (CEP). Colillas won that event last year, which started his journey toward the Platinum Pass. You can also find Colillas plugging Stars at various EPT events. He will definitely be at the EPT Sochi in Russia. Other stops will include the EPT Monte Carlo (which there are currently satellites and qualifiers running for as low as €1!) and a stop in Madrid.
"I know I am going to be the center of attention and the rest of the players at the table will know me," said Colillas. "That gives me a little bit more pressure, but it will motivate me to learn to adapt."
Head over to PokerStars Blog for more info on the newest ambassador.
