Moore Games allegedly switched off by iPoker

Tuesday July 31,2012 : IS THIS ANOTHER ONLINE POKER SITE ON THE WAY OUT?
 
Moore Games allegedly switched off by iPoker without explanation
 
With the recent Purple Lounge, Everleaf and 5050 Poker internet poker room failures still a bitter and frustrating memory for many players, reports surfaced this week that yet another site appears to be in unexplained difficulties, with poor communication exacerbating an already bad scenario.
 
Unpaid players and media alike have flagged the sudden and unannounced shutdown a week ago of Moore Games.com, a skin on the iPoker Network licensed as operated by Massive Group NV under the Curacao and Malta jurisdictions, but believed owned by a Swedish magazine company.
 
The CEO of the company, Samir Mujagic, told the online poker information site Pokerfuse that his site had been switched off by network operator iPoker without explanation.  Whilst this may be true, it is not unknown for failing online poker operators to initially blame the network or "technical glitches" for sudden shutdowns.
 
Mujagic alleged that he had been unable to get a response from his network, which again if true demonstrates an extraordinary lack of professionalism at that level.
 
Some credibility was afforded Mujagic's allegation when Pokerfuse attempted to elicit a response from iPoker-Playtech but encountered a similar wall of silence.
 
On influential  messages board players have been reporting pay-out delays for some weeks, with one poster advising that he had been told by Moore Games management:
 
"We would like to express our honest apologies for the delays we encountered in processing the payments during the last 2 weeks. As you have already been informed, Moore Games worked on integrating its payment solutions with a very big iGaming operator, all this in order to make Moore Games bigger, better and with more value for its players."
 
Later posts in the same thread, allegedly by a ‘coordinator with Moore Games' called Jose advised:
 
"There's a server problem and PT needs to restart it. It's the third time this has happened and the last time they said it would NOT happen again, which it has as you have noticed. I will let you know ASAP when I have an update. FYI, there’s no other problems with Moore Games, so please bare (sic) with us."
 
Four days later players were still in the dark, and the management and site communications facilities at Moore Games had gone silent, still with no statement from either operator or network.
 
Players were now seriously concerned, having earlier been given the two usual excuses that presage a site failure – delayed pay-outs and alleged technical problems.
 
Players noted that the payment processing was via Tain, and reports started surfacing of marketing affiliates not being paid either.
 
One poster probably summed up how most were feeling when he posted: "It is just a new excuse each week. How is it possible for a company to be ran like this? The players want to hear from someone at Moore Games or anyone who works for Ipoker."
 
The twoplustwo thread has since ballooned into 5 pages and counting with frustrated players trying to find out what is happening, and iPoker resolutely remaining silent.
 
After perusing emails between Moore Games and iPoker, presumably furnished by Mujagic, Pokerfuse speculated: "…one possible reason for the room suspension is fraud and collusion by some Moore players. However, Mujagic asserts that his company paid an additional monthly premium to utilize the network’s enhanced fraud protection services, designed to increase the detection of such activities."
 
Mujagic told Pokerfuse that whilst Moore and Tain operate the site's cashier facility, Playtech-iPoker holds the player deposits (hopefully in properly segregated accounts).
 
This may assuage the players' biggest fear based on previous experiences – an operator raiding player deposits to boost unhealthy cash flows.
 
And there the matter unsatisfactorily rested as we went to press Tuesday – a shuttered website, unsubstantiated allegations and questionable excuses on one side, and total silence on the other.  In the middle – as always – stand bewildered and unpaid players.