At EPT Paris on Wednesday, Irish poker pro, podcaster, and writer David Lappin was chosen from a group of 30 finalists to become the newest PokerStars Team Pro.
The top-10 players from each of the three 2025 PokerStars Live Leagues were eligible to receive the €100,000 PokerStars Live League ambassador deal.
Lappin qualified by the thinnest of margins, finishing in 10th place in the Low League. He beat out other eligible players like Jesse Lonis, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Gerard Rubiralta Cortes, Barny Boatman, David Docherty, and Soraya Estrada for the contract.
‘A huge honor’
Lappin has been through a whirlwind over the last 12 months. After Lappin’s long-standing Unibet sponsorship came to an end in June 2025, Lappin, along with The Chip Race podcast co-host Dara O’Kearney, signed on with WPT Global. However, after the brand decided to sign controversial Chinese poker star Ren Lin, Lappin and O’Kearney decided to leave immediately.
They only went unsigned for a month. While O’Kearney signed on with Paddy Poker this week, it seemed strange that Lappin wasn’t brought along. Now, we have all the answers.
“It’s incredible, it means so much,” Lappin told PokerStars.
“After almost 20 years in the game, my passion for poker is as strong as it’s ever been. I love the players, and I love the different reasons that people fall in love with this brilliant game.
“Honestly, it’s a huge honor to be part of the PokerStars team. I’ve obviously been playing on PokerStars for almost my entire poker career, and I’ve seen the kind of people who’ve been their ambassadors, and they are the absolute pinnacle of the game. So to be thought of as someone who could be in this team is just an incredible honour.
“I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the team who’ve showed this faith in me. I’m just full of gratitude.”
Creating a safe environment
Lappin, along with O’Kearney, has always championed safety and integrity as pillars of poker. Now, Lappin hopes to bring that mindset to one of the world’s biggest poker brands.
“My biggest hope is that I can be a voice for those players within the team to champion their need for good poker,” he said.
“And by good poker, I mean safe poker. This is obviously very close to my heart at the moment, but this is a site that takes game integrity and player security issues really seriously.
“It’s a company that doesn’t cut corners, a company that plays by the rules, which doesn’t look for workarounds with regard to all the regulatory frameworks. Integrity stuff is just really important to me personally. To work for a company where I know none of that will be an issue, that’s huge.”
As is O’Kearney, Lappin considers himself as a straight shooter, which has scared off plenty of brands throughout the years. However, Lappin is quite unapologetic and will continue to be himself.
“I’ve given my sometimes too honest and too straight takes on what I feel about various sites and operators and behaviour of players and rule changes or whatever it happens to be.
“Yeah, I probably didn’t pull too many punches down the years. But now I’m finding my myself with the perfect home, really, with a company that I know share my values for the way poker should be.
“The signing of someone like me, I don’t want to call it a risk, but it’s brave from them, too, because they know I’m going to be speaking for the players first. I’m a PokerStars ambassador, and that is an enormously important role.
“But within that role, I will always see myself as an advocate for players first. So I will always say what I think is in their best interests, and I hope because I do, I’m useful to Stars, and I’m valuable to Stars.”
A welcome addition
Cédric Billot, Associate Director of Live Events Operations at PokerStars, acknowledged Lappin’s many contributions to the game of poker in welcoming him to the PokerStars team.
“David has been a constant presence on the live circuit for many years. He understands what makes PokerStars events special because he has experienced them first-hand across multiple stops, and he brings a perspective that truly reflects the player community.
“He combines deep roots in the live poker scene with a respected voice that players listen to, and that balance of experience, authenticity, and his alignment with our values makes him a natural fit for representing PokerStars. We’re delighted to welcome him to the team.”
Early success at EPT Paris
David Lappin is incredibly close to $1,000,000 in career live tournament earnings and has enjoyed some nice success at EPT Paris.
He’s kicked off 2026 with a bang, finishing 246th in the PokerStars Open Main Event for €3,880, following that up with another cash in the PokerStars Open Cup, finishing 86th for €2,490.
