Big news has just gone down in the poker room world: ChanPoker.com has closed down.
Chan Poker, which was fronted by two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion Johnny Chan, is officially closing its online doors on August 21. This was shocking news to me as the flashy internet poker website had a great design and with a super-popular name behind the casino. It was a member of the Ongame Network – as a member of that network they were forced to close their membership of American poker players due to the UIGEA act.
What’s up with Johnny Chan?
If you recall one of our earlier posts about the Johnny Chan Academy Dealer School then you read about former instructor Nick Ciavarella who mentioned in the comments that the Johnny Chan Academy had closed down. So is there something else going on here? First the Chan Academy closes down and now Chan Poker closes down? Is there something going on behind the scenes in the Johnny Chan poker world that may have affected both of these businesses closing their doors?
The closing of Chan Poker is surprising since they launched the poker room with tons of publicity back in 2006, with a booth at the Lifestyle Expo and much discussion at the 2006 World Series of Poker.
According to ChanPoker, there continues to be an effort by ChanPoker.com to find another online casino to take over the player database and honor player point balances because right now ChanPoker players must be feeling very disillusioned.
So if you’re a ChanPoker player, make your withdrawal request immediately. They’ve lifted some of maximum limits for withdrawal methods to make it easier for players to take out their cash.
Here’s the official ChanPoker statement:
ChanPoker Closure - August 19, 2008
We are sad to inform you that Chan Poker will be ceasing operation effective this Thursday, August 21, 2008. Effective immediately we will no longer be accepting deposits. On August 21 our poker clients will be disabled.
If you have a cash balance with us rest assured that all withdrawal requests will be honored and promptly processed. To facilitate timely withdrawals, limits for certain withdrawal methods have been increased. We will make every effort to accept withdrawal requests through our website for as long as necessary however we strongly advise submitting your request as soon as possible. To initiate a withdrawal now please follow this link to go to your account. Please note that once final withdrawals are processed your account will be automatically closed, no further action is necessary.
The final $50 daily freeroll will be held Tuesday, August 19, 2008. We will not be holding any additional weekly Red Orange Freerolls.
For those that wish to continue playing online poker, know that we are actively seeking a partner to provide a new home that will honor your player point balances. We will keep you informed of developments on this front.
As always, if you have questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@chanpoker.com.
Warm regards,
Chan Poker Customer Support
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