Hellmuth and Duke

Two of the biggest names in poker, Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, have both announced that they will be leaving Ultimate Bet but haven’t said what’s next for them

An announcement from Ultimate Bet (UB.com) says that both Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke have left the website. Both of the players have been with UB since 2001 and the news has shocked the poker community, especially as it comes only a few months after three other players left the site, Billy Kopp, Michael Binger and Matt Graham.

There have been numerous rumours about why the two players have left the website, however, there are several reports that say Hellmuth will be signing for the WSOP.com poker website as he has won 11 WSOP bracelets and is therefore the best person to represent the site. Nonetheless, these are all just rumours and nothing has yet been confirmed.
Annie Duke though made a public statement that she does not intend to sign with another online poker website, and instead wishes to explore other areas of business and develop personally. It will be interesting to see where the game takes her over the coming years.
An announcement came from UB’s Joe Sebok which said that UB are moving in a new direction and are now only interested in younger poker professionals. He said that they shall be making an announcement about new signings in the near future. There is a large amount of speculation that they will sign Prahlad Friedman who has never had a sponsorship deal with an online poker website.

When they left, neither of the players, Hellmuth or Duke, had anything negative to say about Ultimate Bet.
Annie Duke wished them “nothing but good things”; she said that she believes the website is where she started developing as a businessperson. She said that the business side was the most enjoyable part of it and that is the area which she wants to explore further, further than UB gave the opportunity to.

Hellmuth said the he has “nothing but positive things to say about UB” and his time with the brand. He said that there are incredible people working hard every day to provide a “terrific” online poker experience.
It will be fascinating to watch the two players and where they go next. All that is known for certain is that Hellmuth is taking part in the next season of Dancing with the Stars. However, it is high unlikely that he won’t be quickly signed up by another website, he will be anxious to find a new sponsorship deal.