David Kaye Grows His Audience (And His Bankroll) at the 2023 NACOOP
PokerStars ambassador David "DavidKayePoker" Kaye has led by example at the 2023 North American Championship of Online Poker (NACOOP).
The Michigander, who joined PokerStars in November of 2022, already has two titles and several final tables in the USCOOP, and it's taking his live stream to the next level.
Kaye is one of the early standouts in a series that has gained traction since online poker markets in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey opened up for play on PokerStars. The ambassador has been a standard bearer for the brand, and he’s enjoying every minute of it.
Kaye Embraces the Grind
“Even as a cash game player, the prestige of COOP as well as the excitement that the series generates is something I always love being a part of,” Kaye said in a recent interview about the NACOOP. “Having multiple chances every day to win a title in the most prestigious series in online poker is exciting, and I also enjoy trying to see how high I can finish on the leaderboard for the player of the series.”
Kaye streams regularly, and the COOP schedule allows him to present wall-to-wall action to his growing set of fans. He will be playing all 18 days of the USCOOP — 75 of the 77 no-limit hold’em events on the schedule. While his cash game streams are usually in the early afternoon, his COOP streams start at 6 p.m. central and time continue through midnight every night.
Check out all the NACOOP schedules here!
Viewers have responded positively and Kaye has been able to grow his audience among the different audiences found in the poker community.
“The community has really enjoyed the series so far. The viewing audience for my cash game streams vs. tournament streams does carry a lot of cross over of those who watch both formats, but we also have community members that only watch one format or the other.”
Kaye’s audience cuts across a U.S. player community that is just returning to legal online poker.
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“Many of these members are also playing on PokerStars in Michigan, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania as well so it's fun to sweat the series together as a community. Not only my deep runs, but also others sharing their successes from the series in the chat with everyone.
For those that primarily watch for my cash game streams, many of them still enjoy following along on the COOP journey to see if I can translate my cash game knowledge into big-time tournaments like COOP.”
From Low-Stakes Cash Games to PokerStars Ambassador
That growing audience has been right by Kaye’s side for his red-hot COOP run, which included a win in the $250 Bounty Battle Royale PKO Championship.
"Anyone who starts streaming poker dreams to one day be a PokerStars ambassador, and for that dream to become a reality for myself was very special."
“With it being one of the higher buy-ins on the USCOOP schedule, it draws in all the best players across Michigan and New Jersey, so to compete with all of these talented players and walk away a champion is something very special to me.”
Kaye took home $5,510 for the first-place finish and added $9,660 in bounties after he beat a field of 307 players for what was his first title of the series. He would go on to win the $200 Sunday Special Championship for $29,343 against a field of 965 entries.
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The accomplishments have been rewarding for Kaye, but his foray into content creation has opened up another set of challenges and goals for him.
“As far as poker accomplishments I always try to break them down between content and poker. For content, signing with PokerStars is by far and away my biggest accomplishment related to my content. Anyone who starts streaming poker dreams to one day be a PokerStars ambassador, and for that dream to become a reality for myself was very special.”
Kaye has gone from live low-stakes cash games to playing and competing against the best cash game players in Michigan and New Jersey on the online mid-stakes scene. Cash games are Kaye’s specialty, and he continues to make a name for himself in those circles — but the PokerStars ambassador has new opportunities to grow his name on the live poker scene and he plans to do just that at the return of the NAPT in Las Vegas in November. .
“After USCOOP my plans for the rest of the year will shift back to primarily online cash games, with the occasional tournament stream on big Sunday's as I have been doing previously. For live events I plan to be in Vegas for the return of the NAPT. The NAPT being back is exciting and it's an event I can't miss!”
Las Vegas-based PokerNews Live Reporting Executive, originally from Chicago, IL
