PokerStars CEO steps down

Gabi Campos has stepped down from his role as CEO of PokerStars after just over a year at the helm.

The surprise departure of the firm's first CEO comes despite PokerStars increasing its market share of the online poker market in 2011.

PokerStars said in a brief statement released to PokerNews that Campos would leave on February 1 and that a search for his replacement was underway.

Campos, who was previously head of 888's B2B division Dragonfish, was appointed as CEO of PokerStars in late 2010 and was the first chief executive at the Isle of Man-based firm.

PokerStars was previously run by the father and son team of Isai and Mark Scheinberg who founded the site in 2001, and Campos appointment was part of a broader move to make the firm's structure more corporate.

There is no announcement on who will replace Campos, and it is not known why he has decided to step down from the role.