Is a Former World Champion About to Give Up Their Sponsorship?

PokerNews.com has reported today on their site regarding a rumor that one of the oldest online card rooms and one of their player sponsors may be parting ways. From the reaction on the 2+2 Forums, many people are assuming this to be Phil Hellmuth and UltimateBet.com.

UltimateBet has been in the new recently due to a cheating scandal that involved players being able to see opponent’s hole cards. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission conducted a thorough investigation and determined that a lot of the activity was directly connected to founder and former WSOP Main Event champion Russ Hamilton. Hamilton has been advised to keep quiet about his involvement and knowledge on the matter but he has been defended by several in the community whom says that Hamilton was not directly involved, but may know who was.

Phil Hellmuth has been directly involved with UltimateBet for many years and is considered by many poker players and fans to be the lifeblood of the site. Other players are also speculating whether that the rumor may involve long time endorsed professional Annie Duke. Duke has also been part of the site for a long time, but her prescience is nowhere near as strong as Hellmuth.

The rumor has it that the site and the player are having “philosophical differences.” Of course, this may be a way of the player cutting their losses and running if the deal is indeed involving UB.

My personal take on this is that regardless of whom it is, that person either has direct knowledge of what went down at UB or they are more concerned over their long term perception as related to poker. It would not surprise me at all if Hellmuth was not the one to leave the site.

When Hamilton was implicated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, the first thought in my mind was whether or not either player knew anything about what was going on. Hamilton has backed Hellmuth in the recent past, as Hellmuth has mentioned in his blogs. Some people might wonder if some of this backing money was acquired via unethical means. With Hellmuth constantly concerned about his legacy, his public image could take a true thrashing if it is proven that Hamilton is involved.

With that being said, Duke does have a family and a reputation of her own to uphold. While she is nowhere nearly as successful as Hellmuth, Duke is still a recognized star and this sort of scandal could affect her and her entire family. Knowing how strongly she fells about family, that reason alone could make her walk away.

Of course, all of this is speculation at this point. No official announcement has been made. Of course, if Hellmuth is dropped, it would be interesting to see if he is picked up by another online site or if he decides to branch out on his own. Regardless of how the rumor turns out, this whole situation involving UB will be in the headlines for quite a while.