AP/UB Reaches Deal with the U.S. & Lays Off Team UB

AP/UB has reached a deal with the United States Department of Justice, but their deal is not the same one that PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker have. UB has also laid off all of the Team UB sponsored pros, including Joe Sebok and Prahlad Friedman.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a deal with Absolute Poker (AP), including UB, and it is expected to be signed and made official very shortly.

The deal is directly between AP/UB and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which issued the initial "Black Friday" indictments against the poker sites.

From the AP/UB press release: "Under the agreement, the US Attorney’s Office has agreed to provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds to players located in the US. This provision is an important first step to returning US player funds."

It is important to note that this is not the same deal that the DOJ previously reached with both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. The release does NOT state that UB can begin to pay out their U.S. customers. It says that third parties will not be held accountable for dealing with Absolute Poker in order to move towards paying.

While this doesn't yet officially assure U.S. players that they will receive their funds, players are optimistic about this development.

AP/UB ends the release by stating that "Blank Rome LLP [AP/UB's legal representation] will continue to engage in discussions with the SDNY in order to complete the necessary arrangements for the final transfer of balances to our US players. This remains our highest priority. We will continue to update our players and the poker community, as we move forward to resolve outstanding issues."

Update On Payouts to Non-U.S. Players

Over the past few days, the rate of success of UB cashout requests for players outside of the U.S. has greatly increased. It has been reported by PokerStrategy.com members that the newly increased payout limits of $500 via most methods or $1,000 via Visa are in effect, and that several players have received those new, larger amounts.

Moneybookers, NETELLER and cheques have all been successful as payment methods.

Team UB Gets the Axe

Former Team UB Pro Joe Sebok

As if the DOJ deal wasn't plenty of UB-related news already, the members of Team UB now find themselves without a sponsorship.

The news was initially revealed by Team UB Pro Bryan Devonshire on Twitter. Devonshire wrote "UB released me today, has promised return of funds."

The holding company that owns UB, Blanca Games, soon released an official statement and revealed that the entirety of Team UB would no longer be sponsored by the company.

From the release: "Regrettably, the negative effect of 'Black Friday' has extended to the Company's highest profile group of poker professionals, known as 'Team UB'... Each of the ten Team UB pros, plus one player representing Absolute Poker, has received personal notification that their sponsorship arrangement with Blanca's respective online poker room is now invalid."

The 11 players affected are Joe Sebok, Prahlad Friedman, Eric "Basebaldy" Baldwin, Maria Ho, Brandon Cantu, Tiffany Michelle, Scott Ian, "Hollywood" Dave Stann, Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Bryan Devonshire, and Trishelle Cannatella.

Joe Sebok Blogs About It

Joe Sebok was the most vocal and active member of Team UB. When he signed his deal with the company, he did so stating that he would be the voice of the players. His goal was to make sure that the company was handling the aftermath of their superuser scandal properly, and that nothing like that would happen again.

In response to losing his UB sponsorship, Joe wrote a blog addressing some of the issues that the poker community has had with the time he spent at UB. In it, he apologizes for some unfulfilled promises while maintaining his belief that UB will attempt to refund the site's American players.