Five-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion Dennis Rodman has officially signed with Only Poker. An anonymous employee of the site confirmed the news to Poker News Daily and Rodman now appears on Only Poker’s website.
As first reported by Poker News Daily in February, Rodman will become the latest celebrity spokesman for an online poker site. Only Poker is part of the USA-facing Cake Poker Network and seeks to make a big-time splash by landing the 6’8” NBA superstar. A graphic that appears on Only Poker’s home page shows the tattooed marvel donning an Only Poker hat and black polo shirt. The headline above his image reads, “The Bad Boy is Back.”
The site’s motto is, appropriately, “No Bullshit, Only Poker.” It offers a 110% sign-up bonus and makes its home on the massive Cake Poker Network alongside sites like Cake Poker, DoylesRoom, Lock Poker, and Red Star Poker. The Cake Poker Network is the 10th largest worldwide by the number of cash game players according to the traffic ranking site PokerScout.com. It boasts a seven-day running average of 1,920 real money ring game players and its traffic is on par with that found on the Entraction and Microgaming Networks.
An anonymous employee at Only Poker leaked the signing to Poker News Daily in February, cryptically explaining that a “major sports celebrity who has won numerous championships during their career” would soon be inking an agreement to represent Only Poker. That figure was widely speculated to be Rodman, whose magical runs with the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls in the 1990s earned him five NBA championship rings. Rodman was an NBA All-Star in 1990 and 1992 and led the league in rebounding for seven years. He last appeared in the NBA in 2000 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
One of this author’s fondest memories of Rodman occurred in early 1997, when he kicked courtside cameraman Eugene Amos in the groin after chasing a loose ball. Rodman was suspended by the NBA for more than 10 games as a result of the incident, which sent shockwaves through the Chicago market. Rodman was briefly married to Carmen Electra and won Season 4 of ABC’s “The Mole.”
The new Only Poker pro was a contestant on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” appearing on the same cycle as UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke. Rodman was fired in the fifth week of the show after a real-life boardroom intervention. The basketball star’s apparent alcohol abuse led to his demise on the show.
Following his stint on “Celebrity Apprentice,” Rodman appeared in the third installment of “Celebrity Rehab” with Dr. Drew Pinsky. Others who appeared on Rodman’s season of the VH1 show were “Pearl Harbor” actor Tom Sizemore, Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, and country music artist Mindy McCready. Rodman was scheduled to play in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Ante Up for Africa event hosted by Duke, but did not turn out.
This isn’t Rodman’s first poker rodeo. He appeared on Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown” in 2004, winning his first match over “Third Watch” actor Bobby Cannavale, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actress Cheryl Hines, and comedian Ryan Stiles. “E.R.” doctor Mekhi Phifer ultimately took down the championship tournament, defeating Rodman, “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, former “Saturday Night Live” comedian Kevin Nealon, and “Doogie Howser, M.D.” namesake Neil Patrick Harris.
Only Poker gives no further information as to Rodman’s involvement with the site. An official press release about the signing is scheduled to go out on Thursday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest poker rumblings.
