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Why UB, Cliff?

Comments (13)
by , May 28, 2008 | 8:37 am

It has been reported (and noted by Kajagugu) that Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy signed with UltimateBet to join its roster of pro players.

The interesting thing here is that most sites release a statement about new signings with a quote from the player. I’m so excited to be a part of this team, or something generic like that. But in this case, the only statement released was from Annie Duke: “A Star Player is one who has an undisputed high level of skill, lots of integrity, and is well respected in the world of online poker. One look at his impressive record reveals that JohnnyBax epitomizes a Star Player and is the perfect addition to our roster of respected and talented poker players.”

Strange that Cliff has nothing glowing to say about UB yet.

Even stranger that Cliff would sign with UB right now. RIGHT NOW. With bloggers calling them out, forum posters in a tizzy, and the poker community as a whole awaiting a non-forthcoming and much-delayed response to the cheating scandal, he signs a deal with the site.

*shaking my head*

UPDATE: Cliff did post the following on 2+2:

“Please understand that I would not sign with UB if I was not confident in current management. My signing with UB is contingent upon a satisfactory resolution of the “superuser” issue. I am hopeful a press release detailing the entire situation goes out shortly, players are reimbursed and satisfied, and UB can move forward and give players what they want.”


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  • http://www.KajaguguPoker.com Kajagugu

    Hey thanks for the link-up.

    I am not sure why anything Annie Douche says should hold water with poker players at this point. Has she said anything about the UB scandal? Has Hellmouth spoken out? I guess it’s all fine and dandy when you get sponsorship money, right? Don’t rock the boat, shhhhhh….

    Why wouldn’t Bax wait till the current management clear the air BFORE signing up? Is PXF doing so badly that he had to jump on this opportunity? Is it just because the WSOP starts in 2 days and he needs some buy-in moola? Shame on you Johnny. Shame…

  • Kevin Mathers

    Duke said something on p5 about her having “super frank” discussions about what’s going on. I’d imagine that UB will have something either tomorrow or Friday, just in time for the WSOP.

  • Kevin Mathers

    Bax mentioned in the 2+2 post I mentioned below that his endorsement is contingent on there being a resolution of the superuser scandal. I’m sure he’ll happily give his platitudes at that time.

  • http://pokerati.com/?author=117 California Jen

    Kev, do you have a link to the 2+2 comment or P5s comment? The forum threads are just too massive.

  • Kevin Mathers
  • http://pokerati.com/?author=117 California Jen

    Thank you, Forum Master!

  • Scott Chaffin

    When did James Woods change his name?

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#danm DanM

    Annie Duke says:

    “I will continue to promote the UB brand because it is a brand I believe in and love and am deeply emotionally invested in.”

    Like I said … cheating lovers …

    Annie Duke is the Hillary Clinton of Poker.

  • Ed

    ‘Annie Duke is the Hillary Clinton of Poker.”

    With a dash of white trash mixed in.

  • Scott Chaffin

    I’m white trash, and I resent the inclusion of either of those two in my tribe, sir.

  • http://www.KajaguguPoker.com Kajagugu

    Wait there’s more. Mindwise (who owns PXF, not Bax or sheets) has commented on his blog: http://www.pokerxfactor.com/problog/view/100080/?t=pxf

    Apparently, UB is not buying PXF and it looks like someone goofed up and spilled the beans too early on Bax joining. Some valid points there but still not enough to make me stop smelling the stank.

  • http://www.valuecube.com Andrew Hime

    Yeah, his joining is contingent on the mess getting fixed… like who’s going to notice if it doesn’t?

    Not that it will to any satsifaction, but whatever. Signing a guy who looks like the joker and is most famous for staking a lot of people isn’t really a real win for UB anyway.

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#danm DanM

    Hime, it’s nice to have you and your sunny outlook back around these parts.