UB Pro Devonshire's Struggling Post-Black Friday
May 12, 2011 8:25 amUS pro Bryan Devonshire took up poker seriously over seven years ago and had been making a comfortable living from the game ever since.
The 30 year-old even managed to secure a lucrative sponsorship deal with online poker room Ultimate Bet and over his career has amassed $1,170,520 from live tournament cashes and $661,354 playing tournaments online.
Now, however, the young pro has had his whole world turned upside down along with thousands of other players, after the Department Of Justice pulled the plug on the US online poker industry. As Bryan Devonshire explains:
“I have over $30k still stuck somewhere offshore and lost at least 20 months of a very lucrative endorsement contract. I have a depressed attitude and a disdainful sentiment toward my own government. I feel neither protected nor served, and I don’t know what to do next.”
Consequently, the main focus of Devonshire’s frustrations have been geared towards the US government and despite now not being able to access his $30,000 on Ultimate Bet, he said he holds no blame towards his ex-employer.
In fact, Bryan Devonshire has expressed a guarded optimism that in the future he will receive his money along with other UB customers, although he acknowledges the logistical difficulties associated with the fact U.S. players represented a sizable portion of the poker room.
In the meantime, Devonshire has been weighing up the alternatives available to him as an ex-online poker pro and as yet has no plans to leave the country to play online abroad.
In order to pursue his poker career, he is left with the live poker option of playing at his local casino. However, it is a lot less convenient than playing from his own home, as well as a lot less profitable. Nevertheless, poker is all about adaptability and Bryan Devonshire said he is still determined to continue playing the game that has been so good to him over the years. As he explains:
“I’m driving to Vegas now…It’s depressing to have to commute for hours, get there, wait on a list and then play 1/15 of the hands I would normally play online, but it’s what I have to do. Poker is still my job and has been since August of 2003. That won’t change anytime soon.”