Ultimate Poker's Team U sponsored pro William Reynolds has never been one to shy away from controversy. From mixing it up with Dan Bilzerian on Twitter to calling out Loni Harwood for account sharing on Full Tilt Poker, Reynolds pretty much says whatever he wants.

After taking a bit of a beating in a heads up match on his home online site of Ultimate Poker, Reynolds let loose a little too much with another player, and when it went public last week on Two Plus Two, he was forced to try and make it right.

Reynolds provides the full explanation of the minor incident in his post on the forums. Essentially, after losing $2k to a heads-up opponent a UP reg that goes by the screen name Money Beets, sat down at the table just as “ReynoldsXO” sat out. Reynolds then, in chat, said “dont lose ur money to money beets“and split.

Money Beets followed William to another table where the pair engaged in a heads up “sit-in/sit-out” tussle, in which Reynolds would play when he got the button and sit out when he wouldn’t. The entire time Reynolds, was chatting and from the looks of it, needling Money Beets in a way that suggests the two were familiar with each other, but not friendly. The result of which was Money Beets, feeling like all his action with the 3rd party was killed and that Reynolds was abusing the technology to only play the button.

After Money Beets brought this to the attention of Ultimate Poker by posting online and sending them a video. Reynolds, who never denied a thing, and in fact, posted the entirety of the scenario as he saw it including a transcript of the chat that took place, issued an apology:

As a sponsored pro I should be held to a high standard of conduct and ethics. It’s my duty to make sure fair and responsible game play takes place on Ultimate Poker. Although it was not my intent to gain an unfair advantage over my opponent, I understand how my conduct was detrimental to the game. This was unacceptable behavior. I apologize for wasting your time Money Beets. I realize you just want to play poker with out any unnecessary side distractions. It is my job to promote action in a positive playing environment. I failed you on December 18th. I’m sorry for causing you any grief.

Reynolds also pointed out that while he was messing around for the most part, the net result of the button issue was a $2 exchange. That said, he issued his apology and quickly got a vote of confidence from the staff of Ultimate Poker as UP representative Terrence Chan put a button on the situation:

Our position on the matter is as it has always been – abuse of the button draw is not tolerated on the site.

William continues to be a part of TEAMU, and we continue to be happy to have him. We do believe that his actions with respect to both the button issue and the chat issue are not acceptable as a representative and ambassador of the site. The management team at Ultimate Gaming took this matter very seriously. This is why we asked William to issue an apology here, which he quickly agreed to (there was some delay as he was back home celebrating the holidays).

That being said, I do not think at this time it is appropriate to comment on any disciplinary action, and any such action taken will remain an internal matter between Ultimate Gaming and William.

By no means is this the first or last time that a sponsored pro walked the line between brand ambassador and being just one of the guys. How far, if at all, do you think Reynolds crossed the line?

In another instance of poker players showing off their generous side, ESPN poker analyst and professional in his own right, Bernard Lee, through his own Full House charity program donated $10,000 worth of gifts over the holidays to deserving kids and families in the greater MA area.

Lee, who is also the host of his own radio show, partnered with Chili’s and RunGood Gear to bring gifts to roughly 50 kids, worth about $200 each, making a direct impact on the end of the year festivities of these local families.

According to the Wayland Town Crier, Bernard has been providing necessary holiday cheer since 2011.

“I hope these packages make the holidays a little brighter for these deserving families,” Lee told the paper.

This, coupled with the {n:online-poker-players-pool-money-donate-toys-kids:donation of toys from online poker pro Billy Vogel, is a great holiday trend for the poker world.

Bonus: Check out Bernard Lee’s Top 10 Moments In Poker for 2013 at ESPN.

For those of you following the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona laptop scandal where Finnish poker pro Jens Kyllonen had his laptop abducted, infected and returned…all without the guilty parties ever having been found or brought to justice, there is, what looks to be, one final update.

“Jeans” logged on to Two Plus Two to let everyone know that PokerStars, which had previously been unable to assist in a variety of ways, let Jens know that they have suspects and they’re Swedish.

As there probably won’t be coming any more updates to this;
Pokerstars told me the suspects were from Sweden, and have a history of doing something like this. I won’t speculate on who it might be, just felt it might be good for people to know. That’s it for me for this case.

If there’s a suspect perhaps there’s still hope that someone will be brought to justice. Either way though, it’s clear that Kyllonen is looking to put this whole incident behind him.

Ultimate Poker lead site ambassador Antonio Esfanidari is giving away five pairs of tickets to UFC 169—and all you have to do is be one of the most entertaining people to send him video.

For reals, just do something to engage “The Magician”, use the hashtag #UltimateMagic and—if he picks you—you’ll have a seat to watch both Dominick Cruz and Jose Aldo defend their belts.

Dear Tournament Director Matt Savage,

Just because someone says you can post something on the internet, doesn’t mean you should.

Signed,

The internet.

That’s right, on New Year’s Eve Matt Savage posted this picture of professional poker player (and his good friend) Matt 'mcmatto’ Affleck wooing the opposite sex in hopes of landing a date to ring in the New Year.

If Danielle Andersen’s reply of “ugh.” is any barometer, we’re guessing Matt should have taken a different line. Much like he should have in 2010:

As we know, online poker is coming back to the U.S., one state at a time. One of the largest states with a vibrant player pool is the great state of California, home to a number of popular land-based card rooms like Commerce and Bay 101. But the big question is—when will the Golden State get gaming online?

According to an article published by SFGate, the online arm of the San Francisco Chronicle, experts believe that the online target date is in 2015. A number of factors come in to play when dealing with the politics of regulating online poker in California, including the need for tax revenue, the strength of the Indian Tribes and 2014 being an election year.

“I don’t have any doubt we’ll have legal online poker in California,” says Whittier Law School Professor I. Nelson Rose, a specialist in gambling law. “Only politics is preventing it.”

In fact, the success of Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware could be dwarfed by CA regulation, according to well-known D.C. iGaming attorney Jeff Ifrah.

While it is not expected for CA to regulate full iGaming, a special carve out for poker looks to be on the horizon. For the full article, check out the write-up over at SFGate.

What does Dan Bilzerian do when he’s not taking photos of himself blowing stuff up, collecting millions of dollars or hanging out with what we gather are some pretty classy ladies? He logs on to his own containment thread on Two Plus Two to field questions from his fans (and haters) so they can get the truth from from the GOAT’s mouth.

Highlights from the short holiday session that started on Christmas Day when Dan decided he was sick of the misinformation:

Ok since 99% of the people who post on here know nothing about me other than bull**** they have read, speculated on, or just completley [sic] made up, I’ll answer some questions… Ask away

On his staking deal with Jean-Robert Bellande:

He lost 1.7 mil on the stake deal and I threw in the towel, I like him, but I think he is a little slow mentally lol

On his biggest win and loss in the pit:

Loss was only 410k and win only 120k

On his long-rumored reality show:

I’ve got lots of good offers, still debating if i wanna go down that road.

Finally on why he has never challenged Phil Ivey to a heads up match:

He was broke last I heard, and I prefer to play bad players, I’m not playing for ego.

There’s plenty of other fodder in the thread, but we’ve boiled it down to a few meaningful posts for all of you who love to love Beardo.

You’ll get all you need if you check out: this post, then this one, followed by this and finally this.

But, hey, you like reading and trolling? Check out the entire Dan Bilzerian containment thread at your leisure.

As one of poker’s more prolific bloggers, the life and insights of Shane 'shaniac’ Schleger have been available to anyone who bothered to look. In fact, his written candor about the life of a poker player mixed with his on-the-felt acumen led him on a path from well-known live grinder to signing a contract to joining the Team PokerStars Online crew. This week, as 2013 comes to an end, so does Schleger’s time as a sponsored brand ambassador and hopefully with that, finally, a little peace.

In a final post for the PokerStars Blog, Shane summarizes his volatile tenure, both on and off the virtual felt, as a Team PokerStars Online pro. He details his struggle balancing his responsibilities as a poker professional and sponsored player in a post-Black Friday landscape with trying to maintain his pre-Black Friday identity.

Over the next couple years, I learned that unplanned obstacles – those that initially register on the psyche somewhere between annoying and devastating – can be surprisingly instructive and rewarding. Somewhere in the midst of relocating to Canada, then Mexico, ultimately spending the better part of two years outside of my comfortable confines in the USA, I enjoyed doses of clarity within the chaos.

For all the grinders who ever had a dream of turning pro and getting sponsored, this should be considered required reading.

Want some more background on one of the most popular of the Team Online personalities? Check out the “shaniac’ mini-movie:

If you follow sports then by now you’ve read about the kick heard 'round the world. At UFC 168, former Middleweight World Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva kicked current champion Chris Weidman so freakin’ hard he snapped his own leg in half. [Warning: Extremely Graphic]

While nowhere near in the same kind of pain, 2013 World Series of Poker runner-up Jay Farber took a shot to the gut when that happened. Earlier in the week Farber publicized his—self-professed—degeneracy by betting $16k on Silva to take back the belt.

When Silva went down with one of the most disgusting sports injuries of all time, so did Farber’s $16k.

But, hey, I guess when you are friends with Dan Bilzerian you live by the motto: “You won’t get rich, bettin’ like a b****.”

At least Farber had amazing seats to the event: