Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario Challenge Each Other to #RaiseIt in PokerStars Campaign

ONCHAN, Isle of Man, July 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

#RaiseIt Calls on the Public to Outdo Sporting Heroes in a Series of Challenges  

Team PokerStars SportStars Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario are wowing the internet with a playful battle of one-upmanship as part of a PokerStars social media campaign named #raiseit, created by leading poker operator, PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand.

The #raiseit campaign, which was kicked-off by the Brazilian football legends, encourages their social media fans to challenge friends using the #raiseit hashtag. So far four video duels have been released by Neymar Jr and Ronaldo, already achieving more than 19 million organic views, over 100,000 shares and over 1.1 million likes on their Facebook channels.

The first video launched by Neymar Jr shows the Brazilian captain's incredible football technique, hitting a difficult shot into the boot of a parked car. Ronaldo Nazario followed up by shooting a football into the back of an accelerating car.

The campaign embraces the global popularity and social media reach of PokerStars ambassadors Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario (approx. 65 million Facebook fans combined) and encourages fans, friends, peers and the public to #raiseit in a number of social duelling videos comprising sport, skilful stunts and tricks.

Neymar Jr said: "I love the adrenaline rush and excitement you get from challenging others, but it's just as rewarding setting challenges for yourself. The #raiseit videos feature many things that we all do in everyday life and it really pushes the boundaries with encouraging people to try crazy new tricks and hone their skills. Creating the #raiseit videos has been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to see what the internet does in response."

Simon Tilbury, Associate Director of Advertising for PokerStars, said "The #raiseit campaign encourages individuals to up the stakes by outsmarting a friend, a hero, or even a stranger. With #raiseit Neymar Jr and Ronaldo are essentially playing poker, but without the chips and cards. Poker skills transcend to many areas of life as reaching any personal goal takes patience, focus, determination and courage. We're used to seeing poker players #raiseit on the felt, but the essence can be applied to any scenario or talent. We are extremely pleased with the huge number of views, high engagement scores and internet responses to the videos so far and look forward to seeing this continue."

#RAISEIT VIDEOS 

The likes of top Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia and #1 ranked American poker professional Jason Mercier have also recorded videos looking to #raiseit to the next level. All #raiseit videos, including content from freestyle footballers Andrew Henderson, Raquel Benetti, Séan Garnier and Team PokerStars Pro members Andre Akkari, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Felipe 'Mojave' Ramos, Liv Boeree and Vanessa Selbst, can be viewed at http://www.nowraiseit.com.

TEAM POKERSTARS SPORTSTARS 

Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario are part of a team of poker-playing athletes called PokerStars SportStars. Other members of the team include Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Olympic Gold-winning field hockey captain Fatima Moreira de Melo.

For further information, please contact: press@pokerstars.com

About PokerStars 

PokerStars operates the world's most popular online poker sites, serving the global poker community. Since it launched in 2001, PokerStars has become the first choice of players all over the world, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else and with the best online security. More than 155 billion hands have been dealt on PokerStars, which is more than any other site.

PokerStars.com and PokerStars.eu operate globally under licenses from the Isle of Man and Malta governments, respectively. PokerStars also holds local licenses or approvals to offer services to players in many jurisdictions, including Italy, France, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, United Kingdom, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, Ireland, Romania, New Jersey in the United States of America and Portugal.

PokerStars is the flagship brand of Rational Group, which operates gaming-related businesses and brands, including PokerStars, Full Tilt and the European Poker Tour. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, Rational Group companies in the UK and Isle of Man was recognised as one of the top 25 best places to work by the Great Place to Work Institute's Best Workplaces - Large category ranking. Rational Group entities in Costa Rica and Dublin also achieved the same accolade in their respective local rankings in 2014. PokerStars is ultimately owned by Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA).

Contact:
Scott Collins
+44 (0) 20 7319 4600