why debate it. he is not returning his paychecks. zero percent chance.

i dont think phil is a victim at all. He get no pitty, nor does he deserve it. and anytime an agent or publisist releases a statement, there is only ONE REASON.

THAT IS TO IMPROVE HIS REPUTATION, AND IMAGE.

/THREAD

+1

sick bluff phil

Is this not the same for people on the marketing team?

Do you think all employees should be paying back their wages?

I find it interesting and telling that neither Brian Balsbaugh or Phil Helmuth will come on here and state this for themselves. They feel that they need to funnel this through our community's best free PR conduit in an attempt to relieve themselves from some direct heat.

How much heat should Helmuth's agent/adviser, Balsbaugh take for these decisions, including this announcement and Phil's decision to continue to pimp UB though multiple scandals? IMO quite a bit.

Still wondering how many points Helmuth had in this fraudulent venture.

Wilpon was accused of not acting with proper judgment. rather than asking questions or reporting suspicious activity, he looked the other way and accepted the too-good-to-be-true returns.

No way Phil wrote that statement - it doesn't contain even one celebrity name drop in it.

Really warms my heart to see such a heartfelt,honest and no nonsense apology. LOL
Damage control if I ever... We all just got Hellmuthed!!!
"I've made a living off of reading people at the poker table"
Yes Phil, but unlike us you got paid!

Annie Duke just released a statement..."I read the UB owners perfectly and made a fortune."

By the way isn't it about time for Brad Booth to come on here and tell what he's been trying to hold over Hellmuth?

When I became aware of the cheating scandal, I immediately insisted that everyone be paid back and whoever was responsible be banished from the company. At the time, I was led to believe that if I left UB right away the business would be impacted and then less likely to pay it's obligations to the victims. As such, I made the decision to believe the leaders of UB and stayed on in the hopes that they would make right to anyone cheated.

I'm having a difficult time with this. You were led to believe the site's health was critical to paying players back for cheating by insiders no longer affiliated with the site? Did you think to ask why "the business" (ie the operating poker company) would be responsible for repaying players versus actually figuring out who stole the money and asking them to repay? Hold that thought.

You own a significant chunk of Excapsa shares and have been paid over the years from a pool of cash leftover after the IPO. At some point in 2008, you were approached to allow 30% of those assets to repay for cheating, ie. you were asked to help repay players for cheating you had no hand in. And you said yes? Again, did the thought ever occur to ask the actual thieves to go into pocket or is there something about the relationship or who these individuals are that caused you to give them a $23M pass? And how is player remuneration from the liquidation cash affected one way or the other by the health of the operating business?

Did the fact that you also had a giant chunk of Greg Pierson's iovation stock play any role in your thought process? Did Mr. Pierson promise you that if you allowed the Excapsa cash to be used to repay players, you would be made whole when iovation made a bundle down the road?

And what about the investment you made in Russ Hamilton's Ultimate Blackjack Tour. Did Mr. Hamilton make promises to you that if you assented to the forfeiture you would be remunerated when ClubUBT became the legal gaming provider in California or when Fox Sports picked up the brand?

And why did your representatives ask Mr. Pierson to leave the venue at last year's WSOP One Drop event, where he came to rail/support you?

You should answer these and other questions on film. I will reiterate my offer to give you semi-final cut on the edit.

Employees who were paid standard wages to do their jobs (who were also not aware of cheating) are not comparable to a "celebrity" paid millions to shill.

There is no way Phil wrote this statement.

The guy is STILL playing dumb, just as he did throughout the years he collected an estimated $20 MIL all while knowing the players were getting raped.

He just now makes a "statement" about UB?

The guy is a ****ing scumbag and knows damn well he was paid with stolen money.

Idk. Sounds like he was misled and he took the bait but in the end, he knew something was up and still took the monies.

He may not be 100% guilty but hes def guilty. Its all just PR spinning. 99% of us would do the same or worst, still wrong though. No sugar coating needed.

good (and well known) example to build upon but the claw-backs apply simply when the benefit/profit came from fraudulent means....in Madoff's case, it could be an early investor that made 10% return for years and never even thought to look for fraud.

the LA celeb poker game with ruderman(or whatever his name), tobey, etc. is another good example....most of those guys settled, if not all.

imo, it makes the UB case for claw-back stronger regardless of a sponsored player being complicit or not......but....there has to be money to go after.

3 years too late imo

To clarify, you are offering editorial input to Helmuth, not a financial cut, correct?

This is a perfect example of why Phil Hellmuth will never do an interview about all of this and answer some real questions. There is way too much info out there for him to have a logical explanation for his actions without implicating himself. The dude is a true piece of ****.

Let us see...he was payed millions and was freerolling on tens live tourneys as UBs rep.
And he is a victim because he was lied to?
Them lying to him is the best thing for him, he gets to keep the money and save his face.

Too little too late imo.

Dude should've known the place was a ****ing mess long ago.

I hope you guys are going to be the same ones to cry about PHIL IVEY and rest of FTP team pros too pay back too??? {{{{{{{{{ ?

completely illogical and not even close to the same thing.

He clearly has a personality disorder. And no way this statement was written or worded by his highness, the undisputed king of poker himself.
Hi Phil.

Oh snap.

Thank you for making me legitimately laugh out loud when I read this. +1