Hellmuth Makes Statement After UB Tapes Released

The tapes, which were recorded five years ago and involved Hamilton and members of UB's management discussing the extent of the cheating and plans to cover it up, were released on Friday night by Travis Makar, a former UB employee.

In the recorded meeting Hamilton admits to using super user accounts to steal money from players but says he both had no plans to repay anyone and that much of the stolen money was distributed back into other player accounts, including pro Freddy Deeb's, and to the company's marketing efforts.

Members of the UB management team, including Greg Pierson, were present and recorded saying they hoped to minimize the damage to the company's reputation and limit the company's repayment to $5 million.

Duke: Saw hole cards as "commentator only."

 

Duke, Hellmuth Named in Tapes

Also mentioned in the tapes were the two most prominent faces of Ultimate Bet -- sponsored pros Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth.

Hamilton referred to Duke knowing and using "God mode" to see other players' hole cards but only on a 15-minute delay.

Duke responded to the accusation on Twitter by saying she did use it in her role as a commentator for a few UB tournaments, which is standard practice.

I had access to the delayed viewing of cards only for a few UB tournament events where i was a radio commentator.

This delayed viewing was made this public during those broadcasts and is standard practice for WSOP commentators for live events also.

Hellmuth wasn't implicated by management in the meeting as knowing anything about the cheating, and in fact was discussed as a threat to keeping the cheating under wraps if he found out. Management then discussed a strategy to keep Hellmuth in the dark about it.

"I've never been more wrong about anything in my life."

 

In response to the tapes, Hellmuth released a statement today via his agent Brian Balsbaugh, who sent it to noted poker social media guru Kevmath. An excerpt:

"I've made a living off of reading people at the poker table and in the business world. Trusting my gut has allowed me to be at the top of my profession and develop a lifetime of friends and great experiences.

"Unfortunately, I made a horrible read regarding my relationship with the founders of the now defunct online poker site Ultimate Bet.

"I trusted their team and believed in their ability to run a first class website and business. Most importantly, I allowed them to convince me that they were honest and forthright. I've never been more wrong about anything in my life.

"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."

Read Hellmuth's full statement here. Listen to the complete audio tape of the first 3-hour meeting here.