With all of the names signed to various online rooms lately, it takes a pretty unique set of circumstances for a new sponsorship to actually be news.
Joe Sebok signing with Ultimate Bet qualifies.
The Poker Road founder, who has been an outspoken critic of the scandal and its handling, announced this week that he’s signed on as a sponsored player and as a consultant for the company.
In a blog post announcing the deal, Sebok acknowledged UB’s history aas a major stumbling block to the deal, but then went on to say that he believes all of those issues are a thing of the past: “With all of that said, I honestly feel comfortable working with the Ub leadership as it stands today, and I believe resolutely that there is a commitment to security and integrity within the organization. I will still work vigilantly to make sure that all of the facts continue to come out regarding the past scandal as well, so I don’t see my position there as simply moving forward.”
Sebok also had an interesting extra bit in his announcement, suggesting that (contrary to reports from last week) he’s gotten UB to agree to release not only all of the hand histories and account names of those involved in the scandal, but the real names of the account holders as well: “With all of that said, I honestly feel comfortable working with the Ub leadership as it stands today, and I believe resolutely that there is a commitment to security and integrity within the organization. I will still work vigilantly to make sure that all of the facts continue to come out regarding the past scandal as well, so I don’t see my position there as simply moving forward.”
UB is obviously pleased to snag such a high-profile and well-respected name from within the online poker community. UB head Paul Leggett had this to say about the signing: “”We are ecstatic to bring Joe onto Team UB. He will not only serve as a pro player representing the brand, but more importantly will be instrumental in helping us create a poker site for and by poker players. His commitment to the brand was invaluable as he worked closely with me to help begin to bring closure on the details surrounding the cheating investigation from last year. I’ll continue to work with him to ensure that we always do everything possible to satisfy the poker community’s concerns.”
For Poker Road users worried that the site will essentially become a large ad for UB, Sebok clarified in an interview with PND that the sponsorship is for him as an individual and not some sort of Sebok-Poker Road package deal: “UB is sponsoring me and not PokerRoad. Fans needn’t worry that PokerRoad.com will suddenly be completely taken over by UB. I have always wanted PokerRoad to work in conjunction with all sites in order to build a stronger global poker community and this doesn’t change that at all.”
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