Home / Poker News December 2010 / Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth no longer UB pros
Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth no longer UB pros
Posted by: James Carter. - Fri, 2010-12-31 09:32
What the
online poker world has been speculating on for months, namely that Phil Hellmuth’s UB poker pro days might be numbered, seems to have finally come true. The
Ultimate Bet pro first raised the community’s suspicions after appearing without a UB patch in several live events. On December 18, all those suspicions were put to the rest by Hellmuth’s participation in the Holdem for HospiceCare event in Madison, which was sponsored by UB.
That event proved to be his last one under UB colors.
Joe Sebok, another UB team pro member was the one who made the announcement in his blog, thanking Phil and Annie for massively contributing to the rise of the UB brand. Sebok has also expressed his belief that 2011 will be UB’s best year, although that may be nothing more than thinly veiled concern regarding the future of the site without the two professionals who have grown into the faces of the operation over the years and who had stuck it out through good times and bad.
The move leaves two parties high and dry basically. On one hand, we have Phil and Annie who are now in the market for a new site to join (let’s face it, their search is not likely to end up a lengthy one, after all they are among the most sought-after professional players out there), and UB on the other.
Already in reaction mode in the wake of the news, UB is planning to significantly expand its team of in-house professionals, through the addition of new names.
The newest member of the team will apparently be announced as early as next week.
The question on many peoples’ minds is: was this apparently sudden departure of the two pros a spontaneous decision, has it been in the works for a while and is there something more behind it?
