GTECH confirms closure of dot.com poker network
Company switches focus to regulated dot.country networks with IPN set for summer shut down
GTECH has confirmed the imminent closure of its dot.com poker network following a strategic review of the business.
The gaming supplier’s International Poker Network (IPN) and Danish Poker Network (DPN) will be shut down, however it will continue to offer online poker services in selected dot.country markets, including the Canadian Poker Network (CPN) and the Spanish Poker Network (SPN).
It is understood the move was in part due to the operations of some IPN customers in unregulated territories, as well as the declining performance of the network.
GTECH said the closure of the IPN and DPN would be finalised by the middle of 2014 and that all affected customers have been notified.
The news comes after a series of poker rooms left the network over the past 12 months, including Interpoker which moved to the Ongame network last April, and the skins remaining include PokerHeaven.com, ParadisePoker.com, MuchosPoker.com and Paf.com’s Diamond Network.
The dot.com network currently sits at number 32 in PokerScout’s rankings, with a seven-day average of 220 cash players and a 24-hour peak of 441.
A GTECH spokesperson said a transition plan had been put in place to protect existing obligations and deliveries to its customers during the transition.
“This does not reflect a change in strategy in terms of GTECH’s support of regulated interactive gaming and interactive poker globally,” the spokesperson said. “Our current and planned bingo networks are not affected.”
According to its website, in 2011, GTECH doubled the size of its IPN development team and invested 2m in the network in order to provide players with bigger and better promotions and tournaments.
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