Speculation Mounts Of A Phil Hellmuth And UB.com Break-up

The speculation that Phil Hellmuth and UltimateBet.com may soon be on the verge of parting company has continued to grow following a month of appearances by the poker legend, without any form of UB.com branding.
The 11 times WSOP bracelet holder Hellmuth is UB.com ‘s biggest star and if confirmed, his departure  could prove a major blow to the online poker room.
UB.com has been mired in controversy in the past and Phil Hellmuth has been instrumental in helping to rebuild and enhance the reputation of the brand ever since.
Adding credence to the rumour is TwoPlusTwo forum member and PokerCast runner Mike Johnson, who pointed out that Hellmuth failed to wear any UB.com logos at the recent PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) in either the Main Event or the Bounty Shootout competition.
Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman then commented on his Twitter feed
“I HATE UB, but love Phil Hellmuth who hasn’t worn their patch for weeks…I would give Hellmuth my left arm to sign…he’ll probably go with P.Stars or do a site on his own like Doyles Room.”
Bluff Europe also picked-up on the story and noted that Phil Hellmuth hadn’t sported his UB.com logos at several recent charity events or at the recording of the new season of NBC’s Poker After Dark.
No official response has been made by UB.com or Hellmuth concerning the rumour, and Hellmuth’s branding is still present on the poker site. It is also possible Hellmuth’s lack of branding recently could be due to other innocent reasons, such as contractual or parcel delivery issues.
In the meantime, however, the speculation continues to mount as to where Hellmuth might end up in the event of a split, with one possibility being cited that he could start his own online poker site like Doyle Brunson.
WPT lead reporter BJ Nemeth also had an interesting take on the matter and commenting in his blog, he said:
“Neither of the two big sites in the U.S. (PokerStars and Full Tilt) really seem like a great match for Hellmuth. Sure, he’d be an asset, but he doesn’t really match up with their current marketing, and Hellmuth, as we know, always likes to be featured front and center, something that wouldn’t happen at either Stars or Tilt. However, one site would be a perfect match for Phil Hellmuth — WSOP.com.”