Fresh off his win in the World Poker Tour´s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship, Allen Carter, known in the online poker world as AawwNutz, has signed with Ultimate Bet. Although it is not clear if Carter will be one of Ultimate Bet´s Star Players or a sponsored pro in live or online tournaments, his signing represents a signature accomplishment for one of the world´s classiest pros.
Carter has established himself as a force in both the online and live poker arenas. His win in the WPT Southern Poker Championship was worth one million dollars. The event, which just wrapped up last weekend, was held at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Vanessa Rousso bubbled the six-handed final table in the Deep South, finishing in seventh place and taking home $79,000. Other top finishers included Hevad Khan (14th place) and Poker News Daily Columnist, radio show host, author, and ESPN poker contributor Bernard Lee. A total of 283 players turned out for the event, which was part of the seventh season of the WPT and will air on Fox Sports Net.
In June, Carter made his presence known to Ultimate Bet officials by winning the site´s marquee weekly tournament, the $200,000 Guaranteed. He took home $45,000 for his efforts in the event. The tournament regularly sees an overlay, which means that its guaranteed prize pool (in this case $200,000) exceeds its actual prize pool. Earlier this month, the Texan pocketed $15,000 for third place in the $50,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker.
Ultimate Bet´s Star Players Team currently consists of blackjack guru “Hollywood” Dave Stann, “Best Damn Poker Show” Season 1 winner Tracy Scala, Tiffany Michelle (the last woman standing in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event), and online poker whiz James “P0KERPR033” Campbell. Late last year, WSOP bracelet winner Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, the original member of Ultimate Bet´s Star Players Team, parted ways with the company. Poker News Daily Columnist Eric Lynch, known in the online poker world as Rizen, was also briefly a member. Ultimate Bet´s main personalities are Annie Duke and 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.
Ultimate Bet is fresh off holding its annual Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC). This year, the Main Event, which came with a $1,000 buy-in, was won by Hafiz “yungmoney09” Khan, who banked nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Other UBOC tournament winners included OUTLAWNYC1 (Event 1), domga1975 (Event 2), _trevor_ (Event 3), ANABOOOLA (Event 4), Ryanwelch16 (Event 5), the_casher (Event 6), dry_benefit (Event 7), sailorlobell (Event 8), and wiscomurray (Event 9). Each preliminary tournament came with a UBOC Mini counterpart, which offered micro-limit players the chance to compete as well.
Khan finished 21st in the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) earlier this month, taking home $55,000. He is most well-known for his runner up finish in the PCA the year before to Bertrand Grospellier, known in the online poker world as Elky. His second place finish at the 2008 PCA, a European Poker Tour event, earned him over $1 million. He also finished in the money in three preliminary events held as part of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in December for a combined $110,000.
The online poker site recently merged with Absolute Poker, which is also owned by Tokwiro, to form the CEREUS poker network. Absolute Poker holds a weekly $150,000 Guaranteed event, its marquee tournament. Carter will be found on Ultimate Bet under the screen name AawwNutz.
