Tower Gaming shuts down

After seven years in the online casino and poker sector Tower Gaming announced Thursday that it is calling it a day.

No reasons were given for the decision, but the company disclosed that it had been purchased by Cake Poker and Jetbull Sportsbook.

Players were advised that their accounts had been moved across to the new owners, whilst affiliates were asked to re-register, with Jetbull.com taking over casino and sportsbook clients and CakePoker.eu assuming responsibility for poker.

Jetbull Sportsbook is an online sports book using Oddsmatrix software, licensed in Malta, owned by Jetbull Ltd., whilst Cake Poker is well-known as an online poker network.

In a website message to its players, Tower Gaming declared that it had become apparent that “…we’re no longer able to provide you with the level and quality of customer service we’d like to offer and you deserve.”

The communique goes on to inform players about the purchase, promising that Jetbull offers a range of games three times bigger than Tower, along with games from Microgaming, Play’nGo and IGT and live betting, bigger prizes and jackpots. Cake Poker is praised for its tournaments and bonuses, and both new owners commended for good support.

Tower assures players that secure account information, funds, bonuses and even levels and player points will all be maintained.

In related news, it appears that the recent volatility of the virtual currency Bitcoin has proved too much for the small sportsbook start-up Blockbet.net, which has closed after only three months of operations.

The site used the virtual currency to accept wagers on NBA, NFL and NHL games and European football leagues, but several days ago owner-operator “Paul” posted:

“I think the time has come for me to retire Blockbet. Obviously with the NBA and NHL heading into the playoffs and soccer leagues with their summer breaks, there will be less games to cover over the summer, and I’ve made nothing but losses on baseball up to this point.

“It’s been a great experience and a lot of fun, but it’s also been a full-time job with no days off, so a small break from everything will be welcome. Also the sportsbook game is a lot more crowded than it used to be, and let’s face it, some of these new guys can offer more features than we do.

“I knew from the start that it won’t take too long for guys with more technical knowledge and more time to invest to come along, and I wish nothing but good luck for them. The sportsbooks offerings are now a lot stronger that what they used to be, and I’m glad to have been a part of that process.

“I’m gonna stay involved with Bitcoin, I have a lot of faith in the currency. I also have a couple of other ideas that I want to work on.”

He promised to work on pay-outs and the return of outstanding NBA bets, and then closed his site down.