One day the UltimateBet cheating scandal will die and, aside from never forgetting what happened, we won’t have to talk about it again. But until then, the tremors continue to rumble. On Friday, UltimateBet insider and Russ Hamilton’s computer expert, Travis Makar, published, among other things, an audio recording of a meeting between Hamilton, UB founder and current iovation CEO Greg Pierson, and two of UB’s attorneys, Daniel Friedberg and Sanford Millar in which they discussed the cheating and how to move forward with a cover-up and refunds.
This weekend, Phil Hellmuth, who was involved with UB from its earliest days and served as its headline pro until December 2010, issued a statement through his agent, Brian Balsbaugh. Poker industry news maven Kevin Mathers received said statement from Balsbaugh and posted it on Two Plus Two. Phil Hellmuth begins his response to the meeting recording by saying:
I’ve made a living off of reading people at the poker table and in the business world. Trusting my gut has allowed me to be at the top of my profession and develop a lifetime of friends and great experiences.
Unfortunately, I made a horrible read regarding my relationship with the founders of the now defunct online poker site Ultimate Bet.
I trusted their team and believed in their ability to run a first class website and business. Most importantly, I allowed them to convince me that they were honest and forthright. I’ve never been more wrong about anything in my life.
Hellmuth went on to say that as soon as he found out about the scandal, he “insisted” that all players be paid back and that the culprits be fired. From the sounds of it, he wanted to end his relationship with UltimateBet at that point, but the company’s leaders convinced him that if he left, it would affect the site’s ability to attract and keep players, hurting its revenue, and, in turn, its ability to pay its players back. Hellmuth decided to stay.
Listening to the recently released audio tapes of the UB founders has brought this situation back into the forefront of my thoughts. To hear them discussing this situation and actively deciding to keep me in the dark disgusts and infuriates me. They lied to me about their activities and I made a big mistake in trusting them for way too long.
The 13-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner concluded by expressing his sympathy for anyone who was victimized by UB or the events of Black Friday.
I hope that in the near future we have a strong, regulated online poker environment in the US so that we can all get back to playing the game we love. In the meantime, I want to pass along my support to everyone affected negatively through UB and my apologies for my initial support of people who didn’t deserve anyone’s trust in the first place.
