Who would’ve thought the day would come when we’d feel nostalgic about certain things in the online poker industry? But here it is – an apparent end to an era as the industry says farewell to one of the oldest sites around, PokerRoom, after it shut down operations yesterday.
PokerRoom sent out an email to its affiliates this week saying: “I would like to inform you that the option to play poker on PokerRoom … will be disabled on Tuesday the 14th of April. The remaining players will only have the option to transfer to bwin after they log in.”
PokerRoom has worked until now off the Ongame Network, owned by bwin, and it is only natural that players have been re-directed to bwin’s poker site.
So why the nostalgia? For one, PokerRoom was one of the more popular online poker sites in the heady days of internet poker playing before the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act took care of that. PokerRoom left the US market when the controversial law kicked in and tried to refocus on other areas around the globe, to no avail.
PokerRoom was also one of the first sites out there to boast three dimensional graphics, a concept that ushered in a new era to online poker playing and created a gaming experience that was more realistic, more entertaining and – in the long run – more rewarding.
But, on a more optimistic note, the end of one thing is always the beginning of another, and loyal PokerRoom players will be happy to find some great options on the bwin site.
Besides being the official sponsor of the land based World Poker Tour that will kick off in Italy next month, bwin offers an amazing online poker experience, complete with caricatures around the table, a great variety of games and smooth interface.
Bwin’s Ongame Network is considered the fifth largest in the industry and incorporates top sites such as Bettson, Eurobet, RedKings and Hollywood Poker. The network boasts a 24 hour peak of 5,500 players.
