Danny McDonagh comes back as Director to PokerStars

Danny McDonagh, one of the most experienced tournament directors, returns to PokerStars. He has rejoined as Executive Tournament Director, after a two-years hiatus from the company.

It is widely hailed as a brilliant move. McDonagh has spent so many years working for PokerStars in a myriad of guises overseeing business in the Asian–Pacific region through the Asian–Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT).

Working for PokerStars in any capacity is a joy, but when it comes to getting your hands dirty in the live realm, there is only one place anyone wants to be – the European Poker Tour (EPT). Since 20-years McDonagh made his debut as the Tournament Director for the poker room at the Crown Melbourne; he has finally landed the top job.

Roles and Responsibilities

McDonagh will leave the hands-on TD work to Toby Stone and his crew. Instead, McDonagh will be involved in the constant tweaking and twerking of tournament rules and regulation, schedules and structures. More importantly, McDonagh will act as a conduit to the players, speaking with them at live events, and through the interwebs via social media channels.

“The challenge as I see it is to lift the bar to new heights and deliver even more for the players, making them {EPT events} not to be missed events for any poker player. I intend to give it my best to help Toby and his team achieve this objective,” McDonagh told PokerStars’ Stephen Bartley in an interview.

McDonagh’s appointment comes as a critical time for PokerStars. While the consistent message from PokerStars Towers is to celebrate partypoker’s recent resurgence in the live realm as a good thing for poker, there has to be one eye narrowing in on the incredible number of amateur and professional players that have swarmed to the MILLIONS brand in the past 12-months.

McDonagh will be putting on his new suit for the first time at EPT Barcelona in August. If you miss him, you can catch him at EPT Prague at the end of December, or the PokerStars’ Player’s No-Limit Holdem Championship in the Bahamas in January.