In recent days Bodog has announced two changes to their lineup of poker pros that play on and endorse Bodog Poker. One of the changes was an addition to their lineup while the other was a subtraction. Bodog added the famed online poker player Justin Bonomo, who is known online by his screenname “ZeeJustin”. Bonomo recently placed fifth in the World Series of Poker Circuit Caesars Las Vegas Main Event, where he was eliminated by Allen Cunningham, who would go on to win the tournament.
Justin Bonomo was once caught multi-accounting, where he would enter himself into the same poker tournament multiple times under different screennames. The controversy only grew when he attempted to make a public apology, but his career has since recovered.
In addition to his hefty winnings from playing online, Justin Bonomo has won more than $1 million in live tournament play, proving he has the skills to win both online and offline.
Bodog also announced that they were not renewing their deal with professional poker player Josh Arieh. Arieh’s deal ended at the end of April, and both Bodog and Arieh agreed to go their own ways. Arieh’s most notable highlight was finishing in third place at the 2004 WSOP Main Event. Arieh also has two WSOP bracelets to his name.
Bodog and Arieh parted on very good terms, with both parties having only good things to say about each other. The Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, the company that runs Bodog’s North American operations, issued a statement through their spokesperson who said, “Bodog and Josh have mutually decided to part ways at the end of April. Josh had a great run as a member of Team Bodog over the past four years that included finishing third at the 2004 WSOP Main Event, winning his second WSOP bracelet in 2005 and a number of final table appearances in high-profile tournaments. We sincerely enjoyed our association with Josh and appreciate all that he brought to Team Bodog. We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors, both at and away from the poker table.”
Josh has stated that he isn’t sure what he will do yet, but that he does have a few ideas shooting around. He has also stated that he expects to have his own website, www.josharieh.com, ready and online before the start of the World Series of Poker. The main attraction of the website will be Josh’s blog, which he says will cover just about anything and everything. When speaking about his leaving Bodog, Josh stated his appreciation for Bodog and all the opportunities they offered him, but also said that the time had come for him and Bodog to let each other go.
Bodog’s pro poker team now consists of the recently added Justin Bonomo, Evelyn Ng, David Williams, and Jean-Robert Bellande.