Other, smaller gaming companies that I have dealt with have been much more honest and helpful, eager to treat their affiliates well. But Full Tilt and AP/UB… the worst. However much I hate that the USA doesn’t clearly clarify the legality online gambling, with no clear statutes, and has taken the extreme action of seizing these domains (creating a bit of a PR nightmare for them, I’ve heard), I still have very little sympathy for these companies. Thieves, when they are caught, always make victims happy. A feeling of retribution. I have felt victimized by these companies, and as such, it feels like justice being served. And I hate that. If they had been a bit more honest and responsive, and a lot less greedy, I’d most certainly be on their side in this fight. But as far as I’m concerned, they can dangle in the wind. Good riddance. Perhaps the online gaming industry will consolidate and become more reputable with these rogues out of the picture. Perhaps, at long last, the US will finally start legalizing and regulating online poker, state by state, and then at the federal level. One can only hope. To not do so is to basically make all of the millions of online poker players into criminals. And that’s just insane.

Some Thoughts About Black Friday

Things are looking sky-high for Joe Sebok in the latest pro competition at UB.com . The Team UB Pro today confirmed that he is slated to be the host of UB.com’s first FreeRoll in the UB.com Pro Freeroll Challenge.

The February 17th free online poker tournament will feature a $2,000 prize pool plus a Las Vegas Skydiving experience with Joe Sebok for the winner.

Starting February 17th and running periodically over the next 11 months, one Team UB pro will host a Texas Holdem FreeRoll at UB.com. Each FreeRoll features a $2,000 prize pool plus a lifestyle component decided by the FreeRoll host.

A Las Vegas Experience

For Joe Sebok, the added prize will be a Las Vegas experience completely unrelated to gaming but just as thrilling. The winner of the FreeRoll, titled Sebok’s Leap of Faith, will get to jump out of an airplane over the Las Vegas desert and rocket towards the strip at 200mph. For those who prefer to remain grounded, Sebok will substitute the skydiving experience for something just as exciting.

Team UB pros are hosting FreeRolls at UB.com throughout 2010 as part of a yearlong online poker popularity contest. At the end of the year, the host who attracts the largest number of online poker players to his or her tournament will win the UB.com Pro Freeroll Challenge. The winning Team UB Pro will receive $2,500 from UB for a night on the town in Vegas to spend any way they choose. The Team UB pro who attracts the lowest number of players will be forced to play concierge, doing anything the winner asks to facilitate the night on the town.

Earn a Spot in Sebok’s Online Poker Freeroll

To earn a spot in Sebok’s Leap of Faith online poker player FreeRoll, Texas Holdem players can follow @ultimate_bet on Twitter. More information on Sebok’s Leap of Faith can be found at SkyDiveWithSebok.com.

About UB.com

Built for the passionate poker player, UB.com offers top poker rewards, optimal tournament structures and fast-paced action games in one of the largest online poker communities in the world. Players can download the free poker software, play in free ring games and tournaments, plus meet and chat online with Phil Hellmuth and other Team UB pros to learn and enhance their playing strategy. UltimatBet (UB) provides the best poker games available on the net as part of the CEREUS poker network.

Joe Sebok’s UB.com Pro Freeroll Challenge

After taking the poker circuit by storm and tearing up the tables for $1.5 million in 2009 alone, Eric Baldwin has landed at UB.com, the site today confirmed. The announcement comes just days after Card Player declared Eric Baldwin the 2009 Player of the Year.

Eric Baldwin isn’t just a new UB pro, he is UB. Eric loves this game more than anything in the world, he plays to win, and he’s respected for his passion at the tables. We really couldn’t be more ecstatic to have the Player of the Year on our team.

Annie Duke
Cardroom Consultant @ UltimateBet.com

Since beginning his poker career just a few years ago, Baldwin has built a reputation as one of the most dangerous poker players to ever play the game – online and off. He’s also garnered the respect of his peers for his down-to-earth persona, building a name for himself without losing the everyman qualities that have made him so revered.

Along the way, 26-year-old Baldwin has also amassed a small fortune, winning over $2.6 million at the land-based and online poker tables. In 2009, Baldwin earned $1.5 million playing poker, a figure that matches the lifetime winnings of some seasoned poker pros. This year alone, Baldwin has made 17 final tables, including one at UB.com’s signature Aruba Poker Classic. Baldwin finished in 4th place of the $5,500 Main Event for a $126,710 payday. He holds the record for most final table appearances in 2009.

But it’s not just about final tabling tournaments. It’s about winning them. Most recently, Baldwin finished first in Event #15 of the 2009 Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio, securing $256,600 for his win. Other notable first place finishes in 2009 include a $198,933 win in Event #24 of the 2009 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza II, and a $521,932 bracelet win at this year’s World Series of Poker.

I am eager to be a part of UB’s new brand direction. I carefully weighed my sponsorship opportunities over the last couple of months and after meeting with UB officials and the Team UB pros, it’s very clear that UltimateBet.com is the perfect fit.

Eric Baldwin
Card Player Magazine Player of the Year

Eric Baldwin plays at UB.com under the name eric_baldwin. Online poker players at UltimateBet can employ the online poker site’s free UltimateBuddy feature to discover where Eric Baldwin is playing.

About UB.com

Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Lands at UB.com

UB.net celebrates the all-new magazine-style line-up fronted by Joe Sebok and Scott Huff, and there’s over half a million dollars in tournament entries to be won in the Poker2Nite Freerolls

Newest addition to Team UB.com, Joe Sebok and longtime poker journalist Scott Huff debut tonight at the helm of Poker2Nite, Fox Sports Net’s (“FSN”) hottest new weekly poker news program. Pull up a chair every Wednesday at 11pm EST to share all the behind-the-scenes fun and action of the poker world as you’ve never seen it before. Miss it the first time, and you can catch it again on Thursdays at 4pm and Fridays at 11am and 6pm ET, or visit UB.com for full viewing of the show.

Poker2Nite is a ‘fly on the wall’ perspective set to deliver the week’s breaking poker headlines, so expect it to be relevant, and above all, always highly entertaining. Enjoy the same high-level energy and hi-jinx from the co-hosts that built them a loyal following as radio’s foremost poker authorities.

Poker2Nite’s mission is to create something that hasn’t existed in the poker community yet: a unique poker TV show that takes fans into our world, seen through our eyes, and in our voice. Experience poker the way we do – with excitement, wit and a keen sense of humor. We’re creating our own little club, but all you have to do to gain access is love poker along with us. It’s going to be a wild ride so get on board

Poker2Nite linchpin Joe Sebok

The ‘Seebs’ and Huff dynamic is genius casting at its finest, as the co-anchors are renowned for only ever agreeing to disagree. Watch the PokerRoad.com pair make the move to the small screen to debate the latest news stories and events from around the felt, be it live or the virtual kind.

Plus, the on-camera profile gets a glamorous touch up with the addition of popular poker reporters Lacey Jones and Dana Workman. A familiar TV sitcom face, Dana will present a segment titled The Weekly Misdeal, while Lacey will hit the road as roving reporter in a regular spot We’ll Do It Live! , which deals out the scoop on the real men and women in poker’s land based pro circuit.

Other recurring segments include exclusive guest interviews, Talk Soup, Classic Hands v2.0, and Check, Raise, Fold?, tipped to quickly become an audience favorite as the co-hosts in the know banter about what’s hot and what’s not in the fickle world of UB.com. 
To celebrate the launch of the poker show, presenting sponsor UB.net is hosting a series of daily, easy and free to enter online Poker2Nite Freerolls, scheduled between 8am and 2am ET and running every two hours. Finish in the top 125 in any of the daily freerolls to qualify for the massive Main Event on Sunday at 4pm ET.

Go on to grab a spot in the top 500 in the weekly Main Event for a share of some fabulous Poker2Nite Freeroll prizes, including tournament entries and Step tickets that lead to major online and live events. Compete for over $20,000 in tournament entries each month and chances to win hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizemoney every week in the UB.net Poker2Nite Freerolls.

Find out more about the UB.com Poker2Nite and watch the latest Poker2Nite videos.

About UB.net
Raise. Stack. Own.
 Built for the aspiring poker player, UltimateBet.com offers top poker rewards, optimal poker tournament structures and fast-paced action games in one of the largest online poker communities in the world. Players can download the free poker software, play in free ring games and tournaments, plus meet and chat online with Phil Hellmuth and other Team UB pros to learn and enhance their playing strategy. UB.com provides the best poker games available on the net as part of the CEREUS poker network.

UltimateBet.com UB.com and Poker2Nite TV

Winning Big via UltimateBet

For two years running, a Pennsylvania resident has won the UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic Main Event. Brandon Hall won the Aruba poker tournament Saturday night, a first place prize of $753,330. Last year Matt Brady, also from Pennsylvania, won UltimateBet’s 2008 Aruba tournament for a pay day of $1 million.

For the 8th year in a row, the Aruba Poker Classic returned to the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino. Online poker players were invited to win their way to Aruba for the Texas Hold’em tournament through low-cost satellites at UltimateBet.com for amounts as low as $0.10. The festivities included many parties, non-stop poker tournaments, cash tables and VIP treatment for the highest rated members of UltimateBet’s RAI$E program.

Star poker players such as Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Joe Sebok, Adam Levy, Billy Kopp, Bryan Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, Liv Boeree, Tiffany Michelle, and many others were also in attendance.

Poker Pool Worth Over $2.3 Million

Four hundred seventy five (475) enthusiastic poker players took their seats in the $5,550 Main Event to face-off for a slice of a prize pool that reached $2,303,750.

In celebration of its 10th anniversary dealing cards online, UltimateBet also included a number of other land-based poker tournaments in Aruba with noteworthy top prizes.

Below are the results of the final table, which played out on Saturday, October 10th, 2009:

• 1. Brandon Hall $753,330
• 2. Robert Mizrachi $414,680
• 3. Chase Steely $218,860
• 4. Eric Baldwin $126,710
• 5. Jose Santos $ 92,150
• 6. Brock Parker $ 66,810
• 7. Matt Ross $ 41,470

On October 9th, a 10-player final table for a Mercedes ML-350 played out in the lobby of the Radisson. The seats were awarded to players at UltimateBet through a series of qualifiers at the online poker site. Elliot Smith left the table with the keys to the Mercedes.

Also held in the tournament room of the Radisson were nightly $500+40 poker tournaments, two separate $2,000+100 No Limit Hold’em tournaments and a $1,000+60 event, providing poker players with ample opportunity to profit from poker while in paradise.

An inside peek at the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic can be found on UltimateBet’s poker blog, accessible on the UltimateBet site.

Ultimate Bet Prize Pool Reaches Over $2.3 Million

Epic 9: UltimateBet.com

The final table of the WSOP gets underway this November, but the real excitement is at UltimateBet all October long.

That’s because you’ve got a massive shot at scoring a seat in our Epic 9 event, a 9-player tourney featuring Phil Hellmuth and $50,000. There’s also $2,000 a day in leaderboard cash at stake

WSOP UltimateBet.com

We’re proud to partner with WWE on the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania and to offer one lucky player the ultimate entertainment experience to be part of all the drama and action of this pop culture extravaganza

Annie Duke
Cardroom Consultant for UltimateBet

WrestleMania is scheduled to take place on April 5, 2009 at the city’s 71,500-seat Reliant Stadium, which has a retractable roof and is home to the Houston Texans NFL franchise.

UltimateBet will reward one lucky Canadian player with an all expenses paid trip for two to the event. The Kahnawake-licensed site will be running a series of Texas Hold’em qualifier tournaments offering a prize of return airfare to Houston for two along with hotel accommodations and $500 in spending money. UltimateBet.com is also throwing in tickets to WrestleMania alongside two replica WWE championship belts and a framed WrestleMania 25 poster.

Ultimate Bet Set to Sponsor Wrestle Mania

If you haven’t visited Absolute Poker in a while, or if you’ve never been there, now is the time to visit!

After much hubb-bubb and industry insider talk, Chipleader.com, the company behind popular poker and online casino gaming websites AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com, has finally launched their new gaming platform: CEREUS.

CEREUS is a new poker platform that integrates the customers and features from these two leading poker rooms, creating the third largest online poker network in the world as of this writing. More importantly, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet.com will share more players, more tournaments, and offer desirable new features and gigantic promotions.

The website update looks great, and the interface feels really good. It may turn out to be one of the best online poker experiences. Time will tell, but things are already looking pretty damn good!

Our company’s goal is to provide poker players with the ultimate online experience. The launch of CEREUS is a major step for us in achieving our goal and we look forward to making many more exciting announcements very soon.

With the proud launch of the unified network CEREUS, our company is well placed to provide significantly better value and superior service to customers of both the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet brands.

Paul Leggett
Tokwiro’s Chief Operations Officer

Poker players on Absolute Poker and UltimateBet will be seeing a lot more of each other as they are now sharing the same tables and tournaments. The new poker platform is backed by industry-leading technology and a 24/7 security center to offer players a safe environment in which to play cards. New features include new table views, downloadable table skins, create private tournaments, rabbit cam, avatars, tools for personalization, and a whole lot more. Because of the integration of both of these already large, popular the poker sites, CEREUS instantly becomes one of the largest poker communities. Players at both sites should notice larger tournaments with more players, bigger guarantees and better promotions.

Absolute Poker Powered By CEREUS System