The rumours that have been circulating over the past few days have been confirmed as being true. Jason Somerville is parting ways with his current sponsor Ultimate Poker. This news follows the recent departure of Ultimate Poker (UP) from the New Jersey online poker market.
Suspicion that something wasn’t right first came to light when one of the latest Run it UP videos were posted on Somerville’s YouTube channel instead of being broadcast on Ultimate Poker’s channel. This seemed particularly odd to say the very least because just a month ago there was an announcement that the Run it UP web series would be exclusive to UP.
According to PokerFuse, sources claim that with UP leaving the NJ market, it has forced the company to tighten its belt making them unable to continue paying Somerville to sponsor the site. The original plan was for Ultimate Poker to get exclusive rights to Season 2 of the Run it UP series but due to the financial hit suffered by UP’s New Jersey exit those plans have had to be shelved.
The popular Run it UP host explained in his latest live stream on twitch.tv the current situation and that he was indeed cutting ties with Ultimate Poker at least for the time being. He took the time to answer questions from the many fans on his live stream.
Jason said he didn’t leave on bad terms it simply came down to the fact that Ultimate Gaming, which is the parent company of Ultimate Poker, could no longer offer a good enough deal to keep Somerville interested in staying on so they parted ways. “There was no animosity, there was no screaming, yelling…it wasn’t like talking to my mother circa 2002,” Jason told F5Poker.com.
Somerville also took the time to thank Ultimate Poker for the fun he’s had with the company over the past one and a half years and that he definitely didn’t want to close the door on any potential opportunities that may arise in the future.
It is really unfortunate news because Somerville was much loved by the wider online poker community with many fans stating on various social media channels that he was the best sponsored pro on Ultimate Poker’s roster and therefore was hugely deserving of the sponsorship. You would have to think that other online gaming operators would agree about his star power and what he could do for their brand and would consider getting him on board.
Ultimate Poker announced in August that half of their sponsored roster had been released. The sponsored pros that no longer feature on the “Team U” page of the UltimatePoker.com website are Jeremy Ausmus, Phil Collins, William Reynolds, Brent Hanks and Lauren Kling. Now with Somerville’s departure, it makes you wonder about the fate of the remaining sponsors pros from the UP team, which now only includes Dan O’Brien, Danielle Andersen and lead brand ambassador Antonio Esfandiari, who must be getting paid a pretty penny. The outcome might not be as bad for Esfandiari who is rumoured to have a part ownership in the company.
The good news for the many fans of the Run it UP web series is that Somerville will continue doing the show. What started out as a pure bankroll building challenge has turned into a show that adds an element of fun and entertainment to his videos instead of just playing poker. He will also be doing additional live streams on his twitch.tv channel, so from a fan’s perspective there is plenty of Run it UP awesomeness to look forward to over the coming months.