Sun Poker closed today without giving players any notice. The poker room shut down operations and almost immediately emailed players and affiliates to let them know that the company would be leaving the online poker business. The company operates Omni Casino and that online casino brand will continue to operate.
Sun Poker blamed their issues on the iPoker split. The network moved its biggest skins to iPoker2. This affected most lower limit No Limit Texas Hold’em games. Sun Poker stated in their email to players:
Due to changes made on the iPoker network in September 2012, we could no longer provide our valued members the poker experience they have come to know and enjoy at SunPoker.
Since the controversial network split was in September 2012, it is not a stretch to say that Sun Poker was openly blaming the network’s split for their troubles. More recreational players are found on the iPoker2 side, but only the biggest skins made the cut. The iPoker2 skins are William Hill, Bet365, Paddy Power, Titan Poker and Poker770. Some of the smallest iPoker skins would never have a chance to compete with these skins and make the cut to iPoker2. It seems Sun Poker threw in the towel due to this process.
Sun Poker was a big name in online poker during the boom years. It launched on the Cryptologic Network in 2002 as Caribbean Sun Poker and later rebranded as the abbreviated Sun Poker. It was popular among bonus chasers who could clear monthly bonuses that paid out over 100% rakeback when combined with other promotions. Cryptologic was one of the first online poker networks that allowed rakeback and was the first to create a system for players to get paid rakeback automatically, something that is common today.
Hard times hit the Cryptologic Poker Network. The software failed to keep up with competitor’s innovations and U.S. players were eventually banned after passage of the UIGEA in 2006. Big skins started leaving the network. Betsafe moved to Ongame. Betfair bought PokerChamps and migrated their players there before eventually moving to Ongame. Littlewoods moved to 888, while William Hill moved to iPoker. Some skins such as WPT and Playboy outright closed. Interpoker was the last skin to stay on the network. They moved to Boss Media on March 17, 2009. Cryptologic continues to operate an online casino software.
Some of these moves were made by the rooms to leave the network due to declining traffic. Some of the moves were made after Cryptologic announced the poker room would close.
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