PokerNews, Tiffany Michelle at Odds

Tiffany Michelle, a popular correspondent for PokerNews.com, was one of the big stories of the 2008 WSOP Main Event.  The last woman standing, and one who had no history of major tournament cashes, was amongst the chip leaders for a long time late into the event, but eventually busted out in 17^th place.  Unfortunately, it looks like she is not going to get to enjoy her success right away. 

PokerNews announced this week that it “seeking legal council” because, according to the company, Michelle accepted a sponsorship from UltimateBet.com when she had already been sponsored by her employer.  PokerNews paid for her entire $10,000 entry into the Main Event.  All of the details of their agreement with her have not been made public, but we do know that she got to keep 33% of her winnings and obviously was to wear PokerNews.com logos.   

At some point during the Main Event, she signed some sort of deal with UltimateBet, as she was seen (and photographed) wearing an UltimateBet patch and baseball cap.  Some pictures even show her wearing a jacket that covered the PokerNews logo while the UB logos were clear as day.  In a video interview with another PokerNews correspondent after one of the final days of the tournament (before she was knocked out), Michelle appeared to cover her UB patch with one hand, which seems to indicate that she knew something wasn’t quite right about the relationship.  It is unknown if she realized that she was still wearing a UB hat.  At the end of this interview, she alluded to the distinct possibility that she would be resigning from PokerNews, presumably because of potential lucrative sponsorships and other opportunities on the horizon resulting from her successful run in the tournament.

In a statement posted on its website, PokerNews said the deal she made with UB “…completely contradicted the trust that we had put in her, both as an employee and as a sponsored player. As an organization we felt completely sabotaged by Tiffany, her agent and Ultimate Bet.” 

PokerNews has also decided to stop promoting UltimateBet because of the currently unresolved cheating scandal.  PokerNews did not cite the Michelle sponsorship as a reason for dumping UB, but one might make the connection, considering the timing.