Source: http://www.poker-king.com/poker-king...hp?article=448

Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy has inked a deal with Ultimatebet.com to become an "UltimateBet Pro", joining the likes of Shawn Rice, Scott Ian, Gary "Debo34" DeBernardi and Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon.

"JohnnyBax" is an online poker legend, making the transition from being a stockbroker to dominating the virtual felt in mid-2004. He is a highly respected member of the online poker community - for Ultimatebet, the signing is a no-brainer. Everyone these days seems to be signing with Full Tilt Poker, so for Ultimatebet to land "JohnnyBax" is a major coup. They are obviously hoping that his presence will help to win back some of the online poker community, who turned their backs on the company after the Absolute Poker scandal (Ultimatebet and Absolute Poker are owned by the same company, Tokwiro Enterprises). There are many in the community who will certainly be surprised (and angered, I'm sure) that Josephy has signed a deal with Ultimatebet.

Josephy is one of a handful of players in the world who can claim to have over one million dollars in online tournament cashes and one million dollars in live tournament cashes. "JohnnyBax" has over $1.3 million dollars in total "live" cashes, with his biggest score coming at the 2006 Ultimatebet Aruba Poker Classic, where he collected over $440k for his second place finish. He is also a WSOP bracelet holder, having taken down the $1500 Seven Card Stud event in 2005 for $192k.

Thoughts?

Really bad decision by Cliff IMO.

mmmmmm .... cash > morales ?

I had the impression that Josephy was a smart and nice guy, but this seems like a really bad buisness decision.

wow

Seems like a bad decision indeeed.

i mean, he's gotta know about the scandal right?!??!

wtf bax?

fyp

he's good at winning flips

You guys do realise Bax is poor, so he really needs the sponsor money to feed his kids !

Bad choice.

I'd like to think that Bax got a very lucrative deal for this to happen.

That wouldnt really make it any better....

Not that it would make it any better, but to sign with UB during the whole AP/UB scandal (which he has to know about obv) I think that he had to have gotten a really good deal. Especially when he could offer his name to FTP and they would probably take it in a heart beat.

So any online player who didn't want to play on AP/UB before, how does this signing want them to now play on the site?

so he's not allowed to play on stars/tilt anymore or what?

it would for him.

Wasnt Bax pretty damn rich even before poker - he was a wall street trader or summit wasnt he?

I mean, he cant be doing badly from life and he probably doesnt have to support his drug addiction or pit gambling problems. Plus he has income from PXF and he has to be doing ok if he is staking like 80% of the tournament circuit regs who is under 25.

Unless UB is following a similar line as FTP and is poised to buy out PXF making this step one for a huge payday soon i just dont get it. Until he tries to defend himself you can only speculate on his motives, but he does need to defend himself and he does need some damn good reasons unless he thinks his name and reputation is worth nothing to him.

For the people who get heat for playing at the sites, this is at least 10 times worse as he is actively promoting the place.

Also, like others have said, there is like zero chance people will forgive UB/AP just because Bax is signed with them and it isnt like he is a name that can open up growth in markets other than the online regs.

I can see what AP/UB were thinking, but for Bax, ive no idea.

has he read this yet ?

i bet he's sleeping with annie duke

Yeah that must be it...

this is totally bizarre, I don't even know if I believe it. How reputable is this poker-king site? I've never heard of it until this thread.

since when did poker involve morals... but still bad decision

Level?

if not, Poker-King is very reputable, look back on some of the other stories they have done etc.

true.

i would expect this is all part of the new management at UB's plan to restore faith in the online 2p2-type players. i would expect his deal to at least equal Phil's.

UB is going to come out with hat in hand, explaining the scandal, trying to make things right. i would expect them to admit a lot (not all) and then make every marketable effort to fix this issue. unlike AP, i would say that UB has hired a firm to help them fix their black eye.

obv Cliff, who was rich before poker, has been assured a lot. i would expect he even has it written into his contract.

we all knew UB was not going away. this is a partial step in making them whole. who knows, maybe they put Cliff in a position of power, sitting on a player's advisory board, etc.

of course, for those of us at 2p2, the damage is done. no one likes to take the wife/girlfriend back when they find her fscking the milkman.

gl Cliff.

You made me spit out my coffee.