PokerWorks

The partnership between Bodog and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo lasted just over a year and a half but seems to have ended abruptly and without explanation from the online poker site. About two months after Jean-Robert Bellande lost his sponsorship with Bodog, the same fate has befallen Bonomo.

Bodog has long boasted of two poker players - David Williams and Evelyn Ng - on its pro roster, but decisions in 2008 saw it expand to include Bonomo and Bellande. The Team Bodog pros were used in promotional and marketing campaigns, and they wore the Bodog logo during tournament play, interviews, and public appearances. But Bellande was dropped from the team in the fall of 2009, and it was noted by Poker News Daily on the first weekend in 2010 that Bonomo was no longer listed on the Team Bodog page; only Williams and Ng remained.

Poker News Daily was able to obtain a statement from Bonomo’s agent, Matt Palmer: “It is true that Justin and Bodog have parted ways. While Justin will miss playing alongside his fellow Bodog teammates and good friends Evelyn Ng and David Williams, he’s ready to move on to bigger and better opportunities. We’ve begun conversations regarding new sponsorship opportunities and we’re excited to work with a poker brand that is better able to leverage Justin’s poker success and personality.”

With Bonomo in search of a more positive sponsorship deal, his accomplishments will speak for themselves. In 2009 alone, he won a WSOP Circuit event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, racked up six cashes at the World Series of Poker, one of which was a final table in the $40K buy-in NLHE Anniversary tournament, and made two other final tables throughout the year. His total tournament winnings for 2009 were $773,201, which brought his lifetime total to more than $2.3 million.