It seems like every week I’m reading (or writing) about another famous live and/or online poker pro who’s been separated from their ambassador station with a major operator. Shane Warne is the topic of the latest departure, having announced the end of his seven year tenure with 888Poker earlier this week.
A former international Australian cricketer, Shane Warne has a substantial following of sports fans Down Under and continues to delight fans off the field as a cricket commentator. He’s been playing poker professionally ever since he retired from cricket in 2008; the same year he signed on as poker ambassador for the online poker site, 888.
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 .
Realistically, Warne’s live poker exploits haven’t been all that spectacular. When he signed on with 888Poker, his partnership deal required him to participate in an array of live poker tournaments around the world, including the 888 UK Poker Open, the World Series of Poker and the Crown Aussie Million, among others. Over the last seven year’s though, he’s only cashed in 9 events for a grand total of AU$81,501.
Warne’s most lucrative performance occurred at the 2010 Victorian Poker Championship in Melbourne. He entered the $10,000 + $200 NLHE High Stakes Event along with 23 other players, eventually finishing 3rd for $40,000, preceded by James Obst (2nd, $60,000) and Jonathan Karamalikis (1st, $100,000).
More recently, Warne scooped a $23,441 prize at the 2014 WSOP APAC $10k NLHE Main Event in October for a 22nd place finish. The Australian cricketer had the potential to go a lot farther in that event had his A-K not been cracked by the A-Q of Victor Teng, who went on to finish 7th ($87,514)
Shane Warne announced his departure from 888Poker’s pro sponsorship team by way of a post on his Twitter account:
Sydney today for the test match, then Aussie Millions poker -exciting. FYI I've parted ways with 888… http://t.co/pJ8CXk6xJ7
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) January 4, 2015
Warne followed that up with a second statement, promising to continue his pro poker career, but without the sponsorship of 888Poker:
FYI I still want to play on the pro poker tour & keep improving ! Really enjoyed the last 7 years with 888 but time to move on !!!!
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) January 5, 2015
Although the 45 year old Australian poker player offered no form of explanation for the break-up on his Twitter feed, he did hint at a possible reasoning behind the end of his partnership with the UK online poker giant in a post on his Intagram account, shanewarne23.
“Sydney today for the test match, then Aussie Millions poker -exciting. FYI I’ve parted ways with 888 after 7 yrs, new partnership announced soon”.
Clearly, Shane Warne still has a passion or the felt, but it would seem he may have found a more affluent endorsement elsewhere. Warne has yet to offer any further updates on his social media accounts in regards to the “new partnership”, but he is already slated to appear at the 2015 Crown Aussie Million next week. Perhaps well get a peek at a new brand patch donned by Shane Warne when the live poker event begins on January 14.