Chan Poker finally closes August 22, 2008

After opening its doors to players, the website spearheaded by World Series of Poker Champion Johnny Chan finally closed its doors yesterday on August 21st. There was a lot of discussion concerning its future and any players following the website knew that it couldn't be sustained for very much longer.

The grand opening was fantastic and it looked like Johnny Chan had another reason to smile by starting this site, but that soon turned to dismay as the site began to crumble beneath his feet. It's been very difficult to run a successful Poker website in recent years and this is another testament to that difficulty.

Chan Poker opened its doors in 2006 but was badly hit by the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. It was simply a matter of a bad choice in timing for Chan Poker who couldn't have foreseen that the bubble that online Poker was enjoying was suddenly going to burst with the passage of this new law. News coming from Chan Poker nearly screeched to a halt and the writing was on the wall for the website as their American players began to dry up quickly out of fear of prosecution from federal authorities.

Players that have payments coming from Chan Poker shouldn't be discouraged; however, as Chan Poker has said that they will honor all of their obligations. While Chan is in immediate decline players that have actually played here know that they received, and will continue to receive, quality treatment. Chan Poker is now another casualty of the continuing struggle to find a fair and balanced solution concerning the online gambling laws in the United States, and around the world

Johnny Chan might be down for the time being but he is still holding a few cards and shouldn't be counted out. He'll likely return with a better site, or join one of the larger sites to accomplish what he set out to achieve.