Fortune Poker, one of the longer standing poker rooms on the internet, officially shut down its games Monday, ending a nine year run. The poker room had been living, albeit at a subsistence level, on Boss Media’s International Poker Network (IPN).
Customers of Fortune Poker received an e-mail about a week ago informing them of the business decision. Around the same time, this message was posted on Fortune Poker’s website:
Dear Valued Customers,
Over the past 9 years, we have been very grateful to service you and provide you with the most personal and VIP oriented poker room online. With many changes in the online gaming industry, it has been a struggle to continue to support our players and affiliates to the fullest. While we have grown very fond of our Players, Partners and Affiliates – we regret to inform you that Fortune Poker has made the unfavorable decision to close its gaming/poker operations.
As always, the team at Fortune Poker will work to ensure that you are taken care of to the fullest, and with that in mind, please see the below timeline for moving forward with Fortune Poker.
The software and cashier will still be available today and tomorrow for those players who need to cash out. Any outstanding rakeback, VIP prizes, and race prizes should be paid out to players’ accounts today. Affiliates and other partners will be paid by April 10. For those who miss cashing out over the next two days, the last day to contact Fortune Poker directly about such matters will be April 15. E-mails should be sent to jen AT fortunepoker DOT com.
After April 15, any further issues must be addressed to Envoy at EnvoySweSupport AT envoyservices DOT com.
As mentioned previously, Fortune Poker was on the International Poker Network. The IPN was never a gigantic network, but it had been respectable, making its way into the top ten in cash game traffic at one point, according to the rankings published by PokerScout.com. It has struggled mightily in recent times, though, now languishing in just 26th place with a seven day average of only 320 cash game players. Even in the short term, the network has seen a precipitous drop in its cash game numbers. Just two months ago, the IPN had 900-1,000 players at its highest point during the day, but that figure has quickly fallen to anywhere in the 500’s to 700’s.
As one might guess, the International Poker Network does not have many member poker rooms, but it does have few old, familiar names such as Paradise Poker, Poker Heaven, and InterPoker.