Sam Trickett and his ambassadorship with Everest Poker was all the rage last year when the 2014 WSOP began. Now, just one year later, the two have decided to part ways. Trickett will no longer serve Everest Poker as a sponsored pro.
According to sources, the split was a mutual decision on the part of both parties, but no further reason was given. Sam Trickett, the UK’s highest winning poker player in history, has been contracted by the online poker room since March of 2014.
The highlight of Trickett’s time with Everest Poker—or perhaps more appropriately, the highlight of Everest Poker’s time with Sam—came during the 2014 WSOP. The online poker site ran an immensely popular promotion called “Share 10% of Sam”.
OnlinePokerRealMoney.co.uk tries to dispel some legal confusions stemming from passage of George Bush's UIGEA of 2006 . Federal status seems to depend on interpretation of the wire act and other laws which were crafted many years ago and which remained high level in nature. The United Kingdom has much clearer laws including their own real money gambling commission .
Now you must remember, Sam Trickett had performed tremendously well in previous years. He finished 2nd in the 2012 WSOP Big One for One Drop, collecting over $10 million in that event alone. He also scooped $2.1 million as the winner of the 2013 Aussie Millions Poker Championship. At that time, he was already among the poker world’s top earning all-time highest money winners.
Thus the Everest Poker promotion that vowed to give an amount equal to 10% of Sam Trickett’s 2014 WSOP winnings back to the online poker community was incredibly popular. Unfortunately, his time on the felt in Vegas that year was less than profound.
Sam Trickett was registered for another run at the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, but risked everything on pocket Aces just 31 hands into the tournament. He ended up losing his stack to Daniel Negreanu, who rivered a Set of 9s to end the UK poker pro’s run. Negreanu would go on to finish 2nd ($8.28 million) to American poker player, Daniel Coleman ($15.3 million).
In the end, Trickett cashed in only two WSOP events that year, worth $33,734 (11th place, $5k NLHE 8-Max) and $35,402 (18th, $10 PLO). Comparatively speaking, 10% of his $69,136 2014 WSOP earnings ($6,913) was an underwhelming payoff for members of Everest Poker.
Whether that had anything to do with Everest Poker’s choice not to renew Sam Trickett’s ambassadorship contract is unknown. The only comments from the online poker operator alluded to no definitive reason for the split, and Trickett has yet to comment on it.
“Sam’s time as the sponsored pro with Everest Poker was one which saw some real highs for us, both as an online poker room and fans of the game,” explained Everest Poker Campaigns Manager, Dave Bland, in a statement to CalvinAyre.com. “Our players had a really unique way of enjoying Sam’s progress at the World Series of Poker last year through our ‘Share 10% of Sam’, and Sam has been an exemplary ambassador for our brand.
“We’d like to thank him for his contribution to Everest Poker in the past 12 months and we’re really looking forward to a summer with some exciting news just around the corner,” said Bland.
With the 2015 WSOP well underway, it’s no surprise where the UK poker pro is spending his time. Sam Trickett hasn’t registered for too many bracelet events yet, but he’s spent a great deal of time at the Rio’s WSOP cash tables.