With the worlds stock exchanges taking major hits worldwide (5 globally), the gaming industry has seen its first victim. DuplicatePoker.com which billed its self as a legal online poker room in the United States, they shut their doors on Sunday October 5, 2008 sighting the “Global Financial Crisis” this is the statement found on their website:

Duplicate is sadly bidding farewell to its players after being caught in the middle of the global financial situation the company is not able to continue to provide service. We are a small victim of the global financial crisis.

Regretfully as of the today, October 5th, 2008 we are closing our service. We thank our players for being with us. Hopefully, at later time and in a better economic climate Duplicate Poker will re-appear.

In a statement released on September 15, 2008 founder and CEO of Duplicate Poker Pinhas Romik stated: “DuplicatePoker.com has quickly gained global appeal and poker players at all levels are playing this new game and developing new strategies for winning. Our revenues have increased six-fold since the public launch, and we expect the game’s popularity to continue its upward trajectory.”

Duplicate Poker is a form of poker in which there are multiple tables and each player at each table are dealt identical cards the board is the same, and your success or failure is based on how you perform against all the other players in the same seat as you.

When Duplicate Poker debuted in 2004 it raised 11 Million USD in start up capital and was during raising more capital for a broader exposure into Europe and Asia, in that September 15th release Pinhas Romik also stated that Duplicate Poker was growing at a rate of 20 per month yet 3 weeks later they are closed. It does seem there is more then first meets the eye, and we may yet learn more on this topic but for now a great little sight with a very forward approach to poker is gone and will be missed by many.