As the economic climate continues to be difficult, many online poker rooms that once were thought to be safe have had to close their doors. Such rooms as Fleet Street Poker, Duplicate Poker and Zosoz have ceased to operate due to what has been deemed “financial situations.” Now another room has joined them on the list of closed rooms from just the past six months.
Players who logged into their computers or tried to play on Bugsy’s Club this morning were greeted with a surprising message. As part of the announcement of the rooms closing, the operators of the site stated, “We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of the Bugsy’s Club Poker Room. Since Bugsy’s Club was formed, our mission statement has always been that we will offer you ‘The Best Poker Games in Town’ and that ‘We will take care of you Personally.’ We are proud to say that these are goals we feel we have consistently exceeded, providing you with a great place to enjoy poker.”
The room, which was the online arm of Poker School Online, goes on to say that, due to “circumstances beyond our control with regards to banking facilities, it is with regret that we have to announce it is no longer viable for the Bugsy’s Club Poker Room to continue our business operations. However, we are delighted to inform you that Bugsy’s Club have reached an agreement with the world’s largest online poker site, PokerStars.com, to allow all Bugsy’s Club players to transfer your account balance over to their site.”
It appears that the entirety of the Bugsy’s Club operation will be shut down as even their customer support has been transferred to PokerStars. Players should receive e-mail messages from PokerStars within “a few days” that will inform them of what actions to take regarding any outstanding accounts. For players who had accumulated a wealth of Bugsy’s Bonus Points the news aren’t good, as those points are now worthless. The farewell message on the site does also state that there will be more information added to their website as it comes available.
Back in October, Fleet Street Games, a subscription-based online poker site, shut its doors. The company, which was founded by a former PokerStars executive, cited the “chaotic economy” as the reason for its departure from the market. It had been joined earlier in the month by Duplicate Poker, who also cited the “global financial crisis” as reason for their closure. In December, Zosoz, which was a subscription-based site, shut down on December 14th after less than two months of business. The reason given for the abrupt withdrawal was “circumstances beyond our control,” but in e-mails was also blamed on the economy.
What is problematic for the poker world is that this is one of the first non-subscription poker rooms to cease operation. In the cases of the three rooms mentioned above, all were a monthly subscription based service. With the collapse of Bugsy’s Room, one of the first non-subscription based rooms has closed its doors; with financial conditions creaking along and the outlook cloudy, will other rooms follow in the footsteps of Bugsy’s Club?
that sux, i played here for a long time and made a lot of money. they had a league which ended on the 15th and on the 1st of each month and paid out big for top finishes. i know a few players are gonna be pissed that they missed their 1000, 500, 200, 100 payouts.
yep but dont look to blame the government – look directly at Brian and say wow way to donk the money away
I am an ex-bugsys member and am sad to see it go – because it was small, I got to know people there and it was very much a community. Have opened an account at PokerStars, and tonight my balance was transferred no problem. RIP Bugsys.