UB Timeline – UB History of Events

There are no shortages of stories around the internet talking about both the positive and negative aspects of the game play at UB. In one aspect it is by far the most successful online poker room to ever be formed, but there are also a number of negative opinions out there that claim the website had failed its player-base. This article will focus on the history of UB and the events that led to what it is today.

1999-2001: The Beginning

UB Poker, previously known as Ultimate Bet, made its initial launch in 2001 as a model of what professional poker rooms should be. Instead of just creating another social poker website where players of various skill levels came to talk and wager inconsequential stakes, it was designed literally from the ground up with serious players in mind. The idea was to create a website where professional players from around the world could congregate and play serious, high stakes games of Texas Hold’em without any limitations. Since there was literally nothing out there to base such a model on, team UB spent many years in the developmental stage.

The 2001 launch at UB was wildly successful due to the star power that almost instantly flocked to the website. Names like Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Joe Sebok, and Adam Levy were only a few the official UB ambassadors that people knew from the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker, and the draw of defeating several of the best poker players in the world brought millions to the UB casino. Ultimate Bet was almost instantly the most popular poker website on the internet.

2002-2004: The Rise of a Giant

As the ownership of UB expected, giving everyday people the chance to sit down and take on poker legends revolutionized the game of online poker. A series of tournaments and promotions were set up allowing players to do exactly that, with virtual bounties literally painted on several superstars’ faces. While the average online player may not ever have a chance of making it to a World Series Final Table, they could hop on their computer and occasionally be matched up against some of the best poker talent in the world. There are thousands of blogs around the internet where an amateur bluffed out the infamous Phil Hellmuth or edged out Annie Duke on the river to collect both a bounty reward; a story that they will likely someday be telling their grandchildren.

Although financing was never an issue in the early stages of development, UB decided to become incorporated in 2004 and publicly trade shares of the company. While other dot-coms crashed and burned, Ultimate Bet was steadily gaining in popularity among investors as well as players. It was one of the most popular web-based stocks that was traded in London throughout the middle of the decade. Later in 2006, Ultimate Bet was sold to Joseph Tokwiro Norton for an undisclosed sum of money. Ub offered, and still offers one of the most lucrative deposit bonuses. By utilizing our ub bonus code, you will see your account credited by a massive 111% deposit bonus.

2005-2006: The Ultimate Bet Scandal

Online poker wasn’t the only the only thing on the rise during the mid-2000′s. Cyber-crime was becoming especially dangerous and it was only a matter of time before an online casino was the target. Who knew it would have ended up the biggest heist in the history of the internet.

In 2004, an unnamed former employee of Ultimate Bet found a way to manipulate the server’s software in order to reveal the other players hole cards at the table. This person then created a series of fictitious VIP player accounts to use anonymously, and with the extra privileges intact this individual was able to win considerable amounts of money and then remove it from the website before any tampering was discovered. It is estimated that this individual collected upwards of $75 million dollars (US) before it was discovered in 2006 by a series of talented players that studied the hand histories.

Since this individual was not employed by Tokwiro Enterprises and they had no knowledge of his illegal access, ultimately UB was not to blame. They began refunding money to several players who lost their money unfairly nonetheless, although some still claim that they have not been properly compensated. In September of 2008, Tokwiro sued the original owners of Ultimate Bet website and received a settlement of $15 million dollars from the Ontario Supreme Court.

2006-2008: The Fallout

The problem with a crime of this magnitude is that it was never thought to be possible, so naturally Ultimate Bet originally dismissed the claims that a group of cheaters that could manipulate the network to such extremes. As the evidence unfolded and it appeared that a criminal act did in fact take place, UB quickly changed its story and tried to make amends to thousands of angry players. In fact, numerous blogs were created by the players solely to strike back at Ultimate Bet and to accuse them of allowing this to happen intentionally.

While it was not Tokwiro Enterprises fault that the scandal occurred, public opinion was that they no longer cared about the rights of the players. Millions of dollars were spent by UB on analyzing almost every single hand that was ever dealt within the virtual casino to ensure that there were no other instances of theft within the database, and as you can imagine this was no small undertaking.

Since this period of unrest, professionals have also commented that the only reason this issue was ever even fully uncovered was because Ultimate Bet cooperated with their players, the gaming commission, and law enforcement to analyze the allegations in their entirety; something no online casino or sports betting site has ever agreed to do. It is estimated that similar tactics have taken place at almost every other online casino in cyberspace; UB was simply the only one to ever prove it and reimburse their players for a criminal’s actions.

2009-Present: The Rebirth

Even though Ultimate Bet never actually stopped dealing cards, they merged with Absolute Poker in 2009 to create one of the largest online poker destinations on the internet. To dodge some of the haunting media that still makes unfair accusations, the website was re-branded simply as UB and several additions were made. The tournament structure was vastly expanded with increased guaranteed payouts, and their loyalty system (that was already thought to be among the best around) was expanded even further to attract new players. Of course, numerous security enhancements were also implemented to ensure that such an incident could never again occur at either website; some experts speculate that UB is now more secure than the FBI or the EUROPOL website.

While opinions will certainly vary on whether or not UB handled the infamous poker heist of 2006 correctly, there is one fact that is undoubtedly above dispute. Ultimate Bet is still by far the best online poker room in the world, which is why hundreds of professionals and millions of players still log in to wager their money there every day.