The Cake Poker Network site Only Poker may sign former five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman. Rumors abound that the announcement of the NBA bad boy joining the site will be made in two weeks.
A source close to the USA-friendly Only Poker told Poker News Daily, “We have just signed a major sports celebrity who has won numerous championships during their career.” Whether the mystery man or woman will turn out to be Rodman remains to be seen, but Only Poker appears to be ramping up its efforts to become one of the online poker industry’s household names. The site makes its home on the Cake Poker Network alongside industry giants like Cake Poker, DoylesRoom, and Poker Host.
Rodman has five NBA championship rings after stints with the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. He led the NBA in rebounds per game for nearly a decade and has become one of the sports world’s most recognizable faces. He’s also been associated with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he teamed up with industry icon Hulk Hogan to fight former Utah Jazz great Karl Marlone and Diamond Dallas Page in 1998.
Rodman was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991 and was an All-Star in 1990 and 1992. His championships came in 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, and 1998. Last year, he appeared alongside UB.com poker pro Annie Duke in NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.” Rodman lasted all of five weeks on the Donald Trump-led reality show and his final episode featured a real-life intervention. The “Celebrity Apprentice” cast grew leery of Rodman’s prolific drinking and confronted him in the boardroom. However, he was ultimately fired. The finale of “Celebrity Apprentice” featured Duke squaring off against comedian Joan Rivers.
Rodman has been tied to high-profile women like Madonna and Carmen Electra and is currently a member of the cast of “Celebrity Rehab 3.” The show features Dr. Drew Pinsky of MTV’s “Loveline” fame. Rodman’s housemates on the VH1 show include Lisa D’Amato, Heidi Fleiss, Joey Kovar, Mindy McCready, Kari Ann Peniche, Mackenzie Phillips, Mike Starr, and Tim Sizemore, whose list of credits includes the iconic war movies “Saving Private Ryan,” “Pearl Harbor,” and “Black Hawk Down.”
The Cake Poker Network will soon see the departure of PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com, which will likely head to the rival Merge Gaming Network around mid-April. The Cake Poker family of sites stands as the ninth largest worldwide in terms of real money ring game traffic, according to PokerScout.com, with a seven-day running average of 2,150 cash game players. During its peak hours, well over 3,000 call the site home. At the time of writing, which is around 11:00am ET on Friday, 1,748 cash game players are logged in. The Cake Poker Network happily accepts players from the United States.
If Rodman does not sign with Only Poker, other sports stars who match the description given by the site include Kenny Smith, Joe Montana, and Jose Conseco. The latter won World Series titles in 1989 and 2000 and has appeared on the roster of seven Major League Baseball franchises. Montana is a four-time Super Bowl champion and may be in attendance this weekend when the New Orleans Saints face the Indianapolis Colts in the 44th running of football’s biggest game. Smith appeared at the 2009 World Series of Poker Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and is a two-time NBA champion.
To find out whether this mysterious sports celebrity is, in fact, Dennis Rodman, visit OnlyPoker.com.
