UB.com Cancels Aruba Poker Classic
UB.com has canceled its annual Aruba Poker Classic. Despite that, UB is increasing its presence at other live events and plans to expand the available online tournaments.
“It is with great regret that we are announcing that the Aruba event will not run this year, but 2010 is going to be an exciting year for UB and its players,” said Tokwiro COO Paul Leggett in a press release. “Over the last year we've been redefining the UB brand in every way. We love the Aruba Poker Classic event but we think we can do a lot more for our players by investing in new events and rewards.”
Last year, Brandon Hall took down a field of 475 players in the Aruba Poker Classic Main Event. He collected a $753,000 first prize award. The original prize pool of $5,500 swelled to more than $2 million as hundreds of online poker players arrived at the Radisson Aruba Resort and Casino to take part in the annual event.
Instead of hosting that large tournament this year, UB.com will focus its efforts on expanding both its online and live tournament schedules. At the online poker tables, a monthly $500,000 guarantee award is currently in the works. Right now, UB.com and its sister site, Absolute Poker.net, host a weekly $200,000 guaranteed event that brings in more than 1,000 entrants regularly.
Although UB is not hosting its annual Aruba event, it will continue to qualify players for other real-world tournaments such as the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker, which begins in late May.
