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Online Poker Sites Reduce Risk To Promoting Pros
Why players may see a decrease in profile
activity from US aces on Absolute and Ultimate
In a sign of the (USA) times, Casino City writer Aaron Todd revealed
this week that Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker have made amendments
to marketing strategy that will result in several well-known poker
pros such as Michael Mizrachi, Mark Seif and Antonio Esfandiari,
no longer being used to promote the sites.
Following a merger of Absolute and Ultimate in November last year,
both are now owned by Absolute Entertainment although running on
seperate networks. Both have bravely continued to permit real money
US action despite the UIGEA passed in October 2006, and the latest
initiatives are aimed at protecting poker pros from possible persecution.
"There has been a decision to reevaluate which poker professionals
we work with on each brand in the future," a company official
who asked not to be identified told Todd. "But that decision
was made purely on the basis of trying to protect our ability to
continue to be able to offer U.S. customers the very best in online
poker."
The source said that both sites were concerned that as official
spokespeople for the sites, professional poker players could become
targets for the US Department of Justice and their business relationships
with the sites could be viewed as "aiding and abetting"
Internet gambling.
Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, who have been part of UltimateBet
since the site opened, will remain with the site to promote the
brand internationally. The site will also focus on promoting the
Aruba Poker Classic in the U.S. Absolute Poker will focus on promoting
Canadian model Serinda Swan and Internet players through its Absolute
Dream package.
"The business has gone through a number of changes as a consequence
of current [US] legislation," said the official told Todd.
"It's a marketing decision so that we're free to market what
we want where we want without putting a degree of risk to our business."
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