Home / Poker News November 2008 / WPT Online closes for good
WPT Online closes for good
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2008-11-23 09:07
WPT Online, The World Poker Tour’s online poker room has been closed for good. The owners finally decided to put the venture out of its misery, as it had pretty much been doomed since its inception.
If you’re an online poker player don’t be ashamed if this is the first time you hear about the fact that the WPT had an online presence. Chances are none of the guys you know from your favorite poker room knew about it either.
Here’s why an online poker room bearing one of the most popular and well-known live poker brands was condemned before it ever went online.
The whole idea of capitalizing on the online poker and gambling boom came in 2006 for the WPT people in charge of the matter. Now then, we all know that 2006 was the year the UIGEA got signed into law, but that was the least of the WPT Online’s worries at that point.
In 2006, online poker ventures like PartyPoker, Ultimate Bet, PokerStars and Full Tilt poker had been in full swing, with well-established player bases and market shares. Still, the WPT Online might’ve fought its way up the ladder riding the brand-name, but other sort of trouble was already brewing behind the scenes. Several of the WPT’s live events had been sponsored by some of the above mentioned poker rooms, and the generous sponsorships allowed them to take their action to some of the most exotic locations on the planet, thus actively contributing to their success.
As soon as the WPT’s online ambitions became a prospect, these sponsors became rather hostile and the first thing they did was to vanish into the sunset. This move alone cut the momentum behind the operation back from the get-go.
On top of all that, the 2006 UIGEA had a much bigger impact on the WPT’s online operation than on other poker rooms. Based in the U.S., the company couldn’t afford to even consider accepting US players against the law. Losing all its players in the country in which all WPT events ran left them pretty much unknown in the online poker world.
