The online poker room Ultimate Bet announced that it had signed 38 year-old Tracy Scala to be the newest member of its “Star Players” team on Thursday. He joins Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, James “P0KERPR033” Campbell, and Tiffany Michelle, the other faces behind Ultimate Bet. Very quickly, UB has put together a recognizable and accomplished field of Star Players, who act as the eyes and ears of the online poker site at the tables. Ultimate Bet’s main personalities include Annie Duke and 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.
Scala finished in first place in the first season of Ultimate Bet’s “Best Damn Poker Show,” which will air its second installment beginning on Monday, October 27th. The seven-week show features Duke and Hellmuth grooming the next generation of poker stars. It’s a nationally-televised show that has afforded Ultimate Bet exposure on the television airwaves. One person who knows him very well is Duke, who commented in a press release distributed by Ultimate Bet on Thursday: “With unmatched integrity, consistent wins under his belt, and an undisputed high level of skill, Tracy Scala represents everything a Star Player should be.”
Scala made a deep run in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 335th out of 6,844 entrants and cashing for $32,166. He finished 388th in the 2005 Main Event (which was eventually won by Joe Hachem) and pocketed $18,335. Scala has made waves on the World Poker Tour circuit: he finished seventh in the World Poker Open held at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Mississippi during the third season of the WPT for $192,161 and he also finished 22nd in the World Poker Open the year before and took home $20,730.
Josephy is a WSOP bracelet holder and widely regarded as one of the top names in the online poker world. His bracelet win came by virtue of taking down a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud tournament during the 2005 World Series of Poker. He finished 386th in the 2008 Main Event, winning $28,950 for his efforts. Josephy, who is known as “JohnnyBax” online, took 12th in the WPT Championship during Season IV, winning $146,460, and finished 20th in the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Season V. He won the $100 rebuy on PokerStars twice in June for over $50,000 total. In addition to his work with Ultimate Bet, he’s an instructor at PokerXFactor.com, a poker training site.
Campbell has taken down the PokerStars Sunday Million, which is the richest weekly tournament held online, as well as that site’s $200 rebuy. He finished second in the $300 rebuy event of the recently-completed Full Tilt Online Poker Series, cashing for $157,500.
Michelle finished 17th as the last woman standing in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. She cashed for $334,534, which she split three ways with Jeffrey Lisandro and Poker News owner Tony Guoga (also known as Tony G). Lisandro and Guoga bought Michelle into the Main Event, but she signed a marketing agreement with Ultimate Bet during the tournament, inciting the ire of her two backers. In a poll that you can find on the front page of Poker News Daily, 34% of respondents said they believed Michelle was free to choose which logos to wear.
Scala will play on Ultimate Bet under the name “FATCATS” and will also be an integral part of several promotions on the site. UB is currently gearing up for its annual Aruba Poker Classic, which begins on September 27th from the Radisson Hotel and Casino on the tiny island nation.