Four Microgaming sites to pull out of U.S.

30 May 2007

By Ryan McLane

Four Microgaming-powered casinos will stop accepting U.S. bets effective June 1, according to letters emailed to affiliates from the casinos.

Roxy Palace, Casino Splendido, Roxy Poker and Dream Poker announced their decisions this week.

"The contribution of bets from U.S. players currently comprises an insignificant amount to the group and most affiliates have low exposure to that market," the Roxy Palace letter said.

The Roxy Palace message said that the casino and its sister Web sites are well established non-U.S. foreign language and English speaking markets. Languages currently offered at Roxy are English, French, German, and Dutch.

There are plans in the works to add more languages in the months following the company's move away from the U.S. market, the Roxy Palace email said.

The note from Dream Poker had a similar message.

"We are open in numerous markets and offer support and software in the following languages, Danish, Dutch, German, Swedish, Finnish, French, Greek, Norweigan, plus more to come," Dream Poker said.

Ryan McLane

Ryan McLane was a poker reporter for Casino City. Although he has a strong background in reporting, the same can't be said for his poker skills. He has never won a major tournament nor is he a professional player. He applied for this job thinking it was a joke, only to find it out that it's true, people will pay you to write about poker. His favorite word is ridiculous.

After receiving his BA in History from Stonehill College in Easton, MA, he somehow ended up freelance reporting for a couple years before being deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom III with the Massachusetts National Guard. He's back now and is a strong advocate of the phrase "God Bless America."

Currently, Ryan lives in Boston and occasionally makes international treks to cover tournament poker and news. Feature writing is his passion and there is no need to ask for his opinion, he'll probably offer it first - free of charge.