While having the finest year of her young poker career, Liv Boeree has officially left the Team UB stable, making her a highly prized free agent for other online poker rooms.
Back on July 8th, Poker News Daily first reported during coverage of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event that Boeree was not wearing any UB branding while playing in the $10,000 buy-in tournament. Additionally, official press releases from UB.com representatives did not have her on their list of players. At that time, Poker News Daily was able to confirm that there were negotiations in place for the online room and Boeree to remain partners, leading to speculation that a deal was forthcoming and she would remain a member of Team UB. Further investigation has revealed that those talks have broken down.
At UB.com, any mention of Boeree on the site has been removed, including photos, blogs, and her place on the Team UB roster. The extent of the site cleaning house has gone to the point of “tags” (aids to find certain subject matter) on the blog section of UB.com not listing Boeree’s name, her EPT San Remo victory, or any of her activities of late.
If Boeree has truly left the UB fold, several appealing options present themselves. There is a great likelihood that she could end up with one of the two major players in the online poker industry, PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker, helping to advance her career through their U.S.-friendly practices and deep pockets. It is also possible that Boeree – who calls London, the United Kingdom, home – could sign with a European-friendly poker room, much like PartyPoker’s Kara Scott or BetClic’s Isabelle Mercier. The opportunities are endless for a lady who has broken out of the shadows in 2010.
At the start of the year, Boeree was known more for her electric approach to life than her achievements on the poker table. Her passion for hard rock – including most things metal – and her passionate pursuit of a breakneck lifestyle seemed to keep her from hitting her full stride in the poker world. That ended back in April, however, when Boeree achieved her breakthrough poker moment in winning the championship of the European Poker Tour’s San Remo stop. The first place prize in the largest event ever held in Europe, €1,250,000 (slightly over $1.8 million at the time), demonstrated her skills in the game and marked her as one of the potential stars for 2010 and the future.
On another UB.com front, the 2010 WSOP November Nine is shaping up to be quite a battle. There is one question that many in the online world have hotly discussed since the final table of the Main Event was determined over two weeks ago. With the new rules by Harrah’s and WSOP officials that an online site can only have three representatives at the final table, who will PokerStars and Full Tilt pick and what place will UB.com have in the race to patch up players?
When the WSOP Main Event stopped for the November Nine on July 18th, seven of the nine players at the table were adorned with the Full Tilt Poker colors. Because of the rule, however, Full Tilt is going to have to cut four of them (or make other arrangements) to abide by the guideline. PokerStars has two of the players at the November Nine final table, chip leader Jonathan Duhamel and short stacked Jason Senti, leaving the site with one slot to fill by the time chips fly in November.
Where this leaves UB.com is up in the air. With no players wearing their colors at the final table, there is some speculation that they might swoop in to pick up three sponsorships. It is also possible, however, that other online rooms could pick up the slack and take the three remaining players.
