The apparent failure of a San José-based online casino has customers unhappy because they had money on deposit with the firm.

The operation is Forty Plus Casino. The firm vanished from the Internet around Thanksgiving, and there has been no contact between the personnel of the business and customers since.

A betting customer contacted A.M. Costa Rica to report the demise of the firm. There is no report about how much money may be at risk. About the only information about the firm comes from an online newsletter about virtual casinos.

Bryan Bailey, operator of the newsletter, Casinomeister, said that "players got a little freaked" when they could not contact the casino. The casino has an administrative address in Curridabat, an eastern suburb of San José.

Bailey said he contacted the firm that licensed online gambling software to Forty Plus. That firm is Odds On Gaming Inc. Pierre Gagnon, Odds On CEO, told Bailey that workers at his company knew the operators and the people involved with the Forty Plus Casino, Bailey said, adding that most of them are ex-employees of other companies in the same industry, according to Gagnon. Odds On is headquartered in St. Johns, Antigua.

Bailey said in his newsletter that he thought Odds On should be more active in helping the betting customers exchange their debt for credit at other casinos. At the very least, the software company should put out a news release saying what happened to the firm, Bailey said.

The main contact individual at Forty Plus was a person who identified himself as "Alan" in online messages.