Online Poker Room Closes

The poker gods giveth and the poker gods taketh away, at least online.

Poker Room (www.pokerroom.com), an online poker room site that has been in operation since 1999, recently announced that it is pulling the plug on itself and going out of business.

A notice posted at the Poker Room website reads: "Well, folks, after almost ten years of fun and games, it is with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye that I have to announce that this is it...PokerRoom.com will no longer be open for online poker."

The notice continues: "PokerRoom.com first opened for business in 1999 and through its originality and loyal player base quickly grew to be a giant of the online poker sites.

"We have seen players qualify online for just a few bucks and turn it into tens of thousands at the biggest poker tournaments in the world and seen guys that were used to playing against their mates in lounge rooms mix it up with the very best players in the world...

"But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end...What else is there to say? It's been a lot of fun...thanks to everyone for making PokerRoom.com such a great place to be..." ? Poker Room was sold in 2006 to Austrian online gambling company Bwin, which has operated the site ever since and was the one to make the decision to shut it down.

Thomas Somach, www.pokerhelper.com