Planet Poker to End Real Money Games 31 March 2007
Planet Poker to End Real Money Games 31 March 2007 posted by: PokerLOG on 29 March 2007
Planet Poker, which claims to be the longest running online poker site, will close their virtual doors to real money games starting March 31. They will continue to offer play money poker games with other members of the United Poker Network, as of 31 March.
They attributed the move to the changes caused by the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the U.S., noting that, "Management sincerely regrets making this decision but it has become impossible for a small cardroom to properly service their customers."
Planet Poker launched nine years ago, in January 1998, and ushered in a new era of competitive poker on the Internet.
Many industry observers postulated that Planet's operation failed to exploit its advantage of being early in the market when it did not seek to expand more aggressively as poker exploded in popularity. It has also been faulted for not keeping pace with the advanced software features offered by other online poker sites.
Instead, later arrivals who were more marketing savvy such as PokerStars and Party Poker were able to harvest online poker's explosive growth and corner a large share of the market, especially through affiliates, poker skins on networks, and by offering sizeable prize pools.
Planet Poker is not the only early online poker site that has met hard times. Most notably the non-US facing remains of former high flyer Paradise Poker was recently merged into the Boss Media network by current owner Sportingbet
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