Ultimate Bet Cancels One Big Live Event, Schedules Another

Ultimate Bet Poker, now going by the cuter and catchier moniker UB.com (or UB.net depending on where they’re advertising) has cancelled a major land-based poker tournament event that it had been scheduled to sponsor and for which it was running satellites to award free entries.

That now-cancelled event is…was the 2010 Aruba Poker Classic. A disappointment to some it may be, but UB did create the event, and as they say (whoever they are)—the hand that giveth can also be the hand that taketh away.

When explaining why they cancelled the event, UB representatives said they were trying to grow into a larger poker site and that the resources going toward this land-based event could maybe be put to better use bolstering the site’s online presence.

Ironically, in stark contrast to that statement, Ultimate Bet is now co-sponsoring with the newly launched Poker Pro Canada magazine the inaugural Four Aces Poker Pro Canada Classic, to be held April 15 – 18 in Montreal, Canada. Sounds like they’re trying to bolster their Canadian presence as well.

In the way of increased online poker offerings UB.com will also be running its popular UB Online Championship two times a year instead of just once. The site is also working on establishing a monthly $500,000 guaranteed tournament with the hopes of building it into a $1 million guaranteed.

Ultimate Bet currently boasts as one of its sponsored pros the recent winner of the 2010 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship, Annie Duke. Phil Hellmuth, the other poker legend who represents the site, is also making quite a showing in 2010, making at least one major land-based tournament’s final table.