The reasons for the closure are not known, although Cryptologic’s post-UIGEA exit from the US market will undoubtedly have adversely impacted Playboy’s online gambling business. Playboy officially entered the online casino sector with the release of a new gaming website at Playboy Gaming.com on April 3rd, 2007 along with Playboy Casino.com and Playboy Poker.com.
The sites were licensed in Malta under a limited liability company titled Oceania P-Club Ltd. and Oceania Clubhouse Ltd, company registration numbers C42048 & C42050 trading as PlayboyGaming and operating under licenses issued by the Lotteries & Gaming Authority of Malta.
Recentpoker.com said that the move by the Cryptologic-powered Playboy Gaming.com operation is to shut down took many online gamblers by surprise. Customer service representatives advised that the close-down date is to be January 29th 2009, recentpoker.com reports.
Poker News Daily, which broke the news, subsequently confirmed the report with the Cryptologic poker network to which Playboy Poker belongs. The blow comes on the heels of the recent decision by Peak Entertainment group to change software from Cryptologic to Playtech for its online operations.