Eric ‘Rizen’ Lynch had been signed up by UltimateBet to represent them and play at their poker room.

But Lynch called of the deal even before it had become effective. The reason for leaving was not the superuser scandal that UltimateBet was embroiled in for the greater part of the last 12 months.

Lynch was aware of the scandal and its repercussions before he had given his assent to UltimateBet. And when UltimateBet has Annie Duke, one of the most reputed names in poker, on board the scandal could never have been an issue.

In two blogs on his web site Lynch outlined his thought processes behind leaving UltimateBet. The first blog was fairly guarded. Eric Lynch did not want to give details, wanted everyone to respect his privacy but said that he felt that his objectives were “not in sync with the UltimateBet brand”. He added that this was not a hasty decision and that he had discussed the issues involved with Annie and the other players at UltimateBet before taking a call. He said that he was extremely grateful to all these players for taking time out from their WSOP schedules to help him work out the decision.

It was only in the second blog that Lynch revealed the reasons for his leaving UltimateBet. Lynch said that he was not happy with the way the signing on had been handled. Even the releases made to the press about the signing on were not satisfactory. There were monetary issues as well. The guarantees given by UltimateBet on the new tournament schedule had been lowered and this did not go down well with Lynch. Further some commitments had been made by UltimateBet that they had not yet fulfilled.

Before Lynch joined UltimateBet he had been assured that everything promised was already in place and that the process would be smooth and quick. But when Lynch realized that this was not the case he was forced to reconsider. He discussed the issue with the players at UltimateBet, whom he holds in high esteem. Lynch also talked things over with his wife since the financial implications were high. He then clearly put the facts before UltimateBet so that there was no confusion or misunderstanding. Only then did he announce his decision to leave.

The move will damage the reputation of UltimateBet, which is trying hard to recover from the superuser scandal. People involved with the design of the software were able to exploit it to see the pocket cards of other players and therefore make huge winnings over a year. In fact UltimateBet had signed on Lynch to assure players that the poker room was now safe. But the damage will perhaps not be that extensive. Players of the credibility of Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth are still on board UltimateBet. Though lynch is known to be a good tournament player, with current ranking in the Bluff Player of the Year of 398, his reputation pales when compared with Annie and Hellmuth. Lynch has not won any major tournament. His best ranking is a 2^nd place in WSOP 2007 Pot Limit Omaha.