RE: Tiffany Michelle Signs with Ultimate Bet (2)
Let’s not forget about her other teammates — do we have to hate them, too?
I meant to put this picture up (or at least its predecessor) about 10 months ago to make fun of Tom, who was being told, sorry, there just aren’t any sponsorship deals out there for fat, balding middle-aged white American pros. So either someone was lying to Tom and/or he’s simply no Shawn Rice, because clearly Ultimate Bet wasn’t shying away from a certain marketably questionable ilk. Anyhow, the guys pictured here are the colonels in the “UB Army” Tiffany Michelle just joined. They are all supposedly really nice guys and seem happy to help market Ultimate Bet in exchange for buy-ins and free hats. Is that so bad?
In fact, I had forgotten … they even added another bald white guy to their mix recently — Scott Ian, the guitarist for Anthrax! Dude, Anthrax rocks! The guy Ian replaced in the pic (via Photoshop, apparently) was Jim Worth (aka KrazyKanuck). Not sure if Worth left the team on his own accord/principles, a la Eric Lynch (Rizen) or if he just couldn’t keep up with the “gripping lifestyles” (UB’s phrase, not mine) of Rice, Mark Kroon (P0kerH0), and Gary DeBernardi (Debo34). But regardless, you’ll notice Ian isn’t wearing any Ultimate Bet logotry in this official UB pic, but he is proudly displaying a Satanic pentagram from what we can only assume was a previous long-term patch deal with the devil.
Karridy says:
August 4th, 2008 at 7:17am
Jim Worth is WAY too photogenic for this mob. Holy crap… This is horrible.
“Ok, Shawn, just sqeeze in the middle somewhere. …Okay nevermind. Umm… Just stand up. And Scott, don’t worry, we’ll just photoshop you in. We found some floating tattoo arms on Flikr, so it’ll work. And please, guys, please DON’T smile. It makes you look Jolly.”
California Jen says:
August 4th, 2008 at 7:32am
Hate is such a strong word. I don’t hate anyone in this mess… But yes, we should be disappointed that these folks are sticking with UB through this mess, too.
DanM says:
August 4th, 2008 at 7:46am
Karridy: True, but Ian arguably has more “stage presence” than Kanuck, even though he will probably make fewer final tables. He probably fits with Tiffany Michelle better than he does with Tom (and the other guys already on Team UB), too.
Jen: Don’t hate tha playa, hate the game!
BJ Nemeth says:
August 4th, 2008 at 2:07pm
*** But yes, we should be disappointed that these folks are sticking with UB through this mess, too. ***
None of us know the specifics of their contracts, but I have to think a couple of these guys have no other sponsorship options. The life of a professional poker player is not an easy one, and if UltimateBet were my only option to continue playing the game I love with any semblance of a reliable income, I’d take it.
I think we’re lacking some big picture perspective sometimes, because our little poker world is being rocked by a scandal that seems so big to us. But corporate scandals happen all the time, and it’s unheard of for everyone involved to jump ship out of some righteous indignation.
None of the guys in this picture did anything wrong. Neither Phil Hellmuth or Annie Duke have been implicated in any wrongdoing. And none of them are in a direct position of power over any internal investigations. (Sure, Phil and Annie have enough influence at UB to rattle some cages, but that’s not their role.)
Our “hatred” (if that’s the word) should be directed at the individual cheater(s), and the management/ownership that was more interested in covering this up and making it go away than solving the problem and setting things right.
Beyond that, we should point the fingers at Card Player, Bluff, and (until recently) PokerNews, who were all more interested in cashing advertising checks than investigating poker’s biggest scandal. (To their credit, I think PokerNews had the most coverage, but not like the good old days of Calistri/Lavalli investigating the 2-million-chip scandal.) As the top of the poker media, they *do* have a responsibility to investigate this problem, much more than Phil, Annie, or Mark Kroon.
Pokerati (and Cali Jen in particular) has done more to keep this scandal in the public eye than any of the major media outlets.
DanM says:
August 4th, 2008 at 2:27pm
I think I fall more on your side, BJ — sorry Jen and Shronk. I had a friend who used to work for Enron, and she didn’t walk away from that gig until she was asked to shred documents (after the FBI was stationed outside the doors).
Tom Schneider says:
August 5th, 2008 at 2:37pm
which one is Tom?
DanM says:
August 5th, 2008 at 2:53pm
The fat bald middle-age white guy, uh duh!