According to a statement posted by Kevin kevmathMathers on Two Plus Two, former Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth (pictured) lashed out at Russ Hamilton and others associated with UB for keeping him “in the dark. They lied to me about their activities and I made a big mistake in trusting them for way too long.”

Hellmuth began his six-paragraph reaction to the tapes that surfaced in recent days featuring Hamilton and others allegedly discussing the ongoing cheating scandal at Ultimate Bet. Read our article about the recordings. Hellmuth confessed, “I made a horrible read regarding my relationship with the founders of the now defunct online poker site Ultimate Bet.”

In the recordings, which stretch for multiple hours, Hellmuth’s name is mentioned. “The Poker Brat” told the community that he stayed on with Ultimate Bet despite cheating allegations because he didn’t want to affect the financial stability of the site: “When I became aware of the cheating scandal, I immediately insisted that everyone be paid back and whoever was responsible be banished from the company. At the time, I was led to believe that if I left UB right away, the business would be impacted and then less likely to pay its obligations to the victims. As such, I made the decision to believe the leaders of UB and stayed on in the hopes that they would make right to anyone cheated.”

Players on Ultimate Bet and its sister Blanca Games site Absolute Poker have not yet been paid back, and both sites are currently in liquidation. Hellmuth shared his reaction to the tapes, which Hamilton recorded and then reportedly had stolen from him: “To hear them discussing this situation and actively deciding to keep me in the dark disgusts and infuriates me. They lied to me about their activities and I made a big mistake in trusting them for way too long.”

Others mentioned in the recordings include Annie Duke (pictured), Jim Ryan, Jim KrazyKanuckWorth, and Freddy Deeb.

Hellmuth closed by admitting that he should have blown the proverbial whistle sooner: “I should have said something about this long ago, but until I heard the voices on the tapes myself, I never really knew how wrong and misled I really was. I empathize deeply with the players who were taken advantage of through UB.”

The comments in the thread on Two Plus Two about Hellmuth’s reaction were largely supportive of the 13-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner. One poster wrote, “I like Phil, never thought he was a crook at all, just misled.” Others questioned why Hellmuth hadn’t spoken out sooner given that Black Friday was over two years ago and the cheating scandal boiled over two years before that.

We’ll have more for you on this story as it develops. You can discuss Hellmuth’s comments here or in this PocketFives thread.

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