SunPoker Closes, Blames iPoker Split

Venerable online poker room SunPoker has called it quits, officially ceasing operations on November 5 and orchestrating a transfer of its existing player base over to Omni Online Casino (omnicasino.com), the flagship entity of the SunPoker group.

SunPoker has existed since 2002, with the roots of parent company Omni stretching back all the way to the first wave of online-gambling sites in 1997.

SunPoker cited operational changes made in September at the iPoker Network, where the Sun skin was located, as contributing to the shuttering of the site.

On September 1st, iPoker divided most of its cash game tables into two separate networks. Only a small handful of the larger skins entered the top tier, dubbed “iPoker 2,” and such skins must maintain a certain level of new player acquisitions and player “quality.” SunPoker did not make the cut.

SunPoker follows the closure of Dracula Poker and Celeb Poker, former iPoker skins who have also ceased operations in the wake of the iPoker Network changes. Dracula and Celeb sold out to major iPoker skin Titan Poker soon after the September iPoker segregation.

The email to players added: “We thank you for over 10 years of 'fun in the sun,’” and explained that all balances were safe for withdrawal from the Omni Casino. VIP Points have also been transferred at an “equivalent value” and “the site will attempt to entice its poker players into sampling Omni’s casino offerings.”