Ultimate Bet, one of the top online poker rooms in the business today, has an impressive roster of players. Monday brought the announcement that it had landed one of the rising young professionals in the game to a sponsorship deal.
Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, who has an impressive track record of success, signed on for an exclusive deal with the site and will immediately begin representing Ultimate Bet at tournaments around the world. In addition to Kopp’s duties to “patrol” the virtual felts at Ultimate Bet, he will also be an integral part of its live poker team at UB’s signature event, the Aruba Poker Classic. Kopp earned his sponsorship through his play in some of the most difficult tournaments in the world today.
Known for his hyperactive, loose-aggressive style at the tables, Kopp was a juggernaut at this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. He was able to conquer two of the top players in the game today, 2008 World Champion Peter Eastgate and 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem, when all three were at the feature table. Kopp was also a part of one of the toughest beats at this year’s WSOP Main Event on the final day of action.
In what was a stunning turn of events, “Patrolman35” was one of the chip leaders on the final day of action and seemed to be a shoo-in for the 2009 November Nine before he cracked heads with Darvin Moon late in the action. On an all-diamond flop, Kopp bet out 750,000 and was called by Moon. The turn brought a deuce, pairing the board, and Kopp fired out a two million chip bet. Moon responded with a raise to six million and Kopp moved all-in for his remaining 20 million in chips. To “Patrolman35’s” surprise, Moon called the all-in and tabled his Q-J of diamonds to crush Kopp’s 5-3 of diamonds and eliminate the youngster from the World Series. The University of Kentucky business major finished in 12th place and earning $896,730 for his efforts.
Kopp’s success isn’t limited to this year’s WSOP Main Event alone. “Patrolman35” also garnered an eighth place finish during the WSOP in Event #15, a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, for a payout of $71,115 and also picked up a second place finish in the WSOP Circuit stop at Harrah’s New Orleans for $127,832. Kopp has also been active in the online world, amassing nine Top 10 finishes in a variety of online poker tournaments this year at Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, and other popular sites. He recently took down an event held as part of the quarterly Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS).
Unfortunately, Kopp will have to drop the “Patrolman35” moniker on Ultimate Bet in favor of “billy_kopp.” Kopp is now a part of Team UB alongside such players as 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, top female player and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, recent UB Army enlistee Liv Boeree, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Brandon Cantu, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Michael Binger, “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian.