Online poker room Ultimate Bet (www.ultimatebet.com) announced this week that it has signed professional poker player Billy “Patrolman 35″ Kopp to be a paid spokesman for the room.

Kopp, of Erlanger, Kentucky, USA, was a virtual unknown on the world poker scene until he finished in 12th place at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas, earning almost $900,000.

He also finished in the money in two other events at the ‘09 WSOP, collecting a total of almost $135,000 for his efforts.

At another tournament this year, at the Harrah’s casino in New Orleans, Kopp finished in second place and copped almost $128,000.

His career earnings from offline tournament poker total almost $1.2 million.

Kopp, whose police-oriented nickname comes from the fact that his last name is pronounced like “cop,” started his poker career as an online player but in recent years has embraced live tournaments also.

He joins an Ultimate Bet stable of shills–officially known as Team U.B.– that includes Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth Jr., Annie Duke, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Brandon Cantu, Tiffany Michelle, Matt Graham, Michael Binger and “Hollywood” Dave Stann.

Kopp’s duties as an Ultimate Bet flack include playing online in the room under his real name and representing the room at offline tournaments around the world.

Among other things, he is scheduled to participate in the Aruba Poker Classic in Aruba, a Caribbean island nation, in October.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)