The online poker market across the globe has grown exponentially but so has the competition in all forms. Not only do poker players have to upgrade their skills and be at their best in order to stay ahead of the pack but online gambling companies constantly have to strive to launch creative tournaments and innovative promotions. Not everyone survives in this competitive business and Black Belt Poker will soon become one of those casualties.
Neil Channing who is the co-founder of Black Belt Poker recently announced that he will close the Black Best online poker room by the end of Feb. Channing is a professional cash game player from the UK and someone who has worked incredibly hard to promote and run Black Belt Poker.
For those who are not familiar with Black Belt Poker, it is a skin on the iPoker network. While it may not be as popular as some of the other skins, it is indeed well known in the UK and has a reasonable number of usual followers who keep track of Black Belt Poker via forums, blogs and the close knit online poker community in the UK. The key promoter of Black Belt Poker is undoubtedly Channing who acted as a blogger, sponsored pro and also promoted Black Belt Poker at live events by wearing a Black Belt Patch.
Channing expressed his disappointment in closing down Black Belt Poker. He wrote on one of his forums the following
It is with heavy heart that I have to announce that the Black Belt Poker skin will cease to [exist] from midnight this Friday, February 28. It’s now almost six years since I came up with an idea which I thought at the time could lead to a shake-up in the UK online poker market. Since that time I have worked tirelessly to try and develop the project and to build the Black Belt brand.
Channing has advised players who have outstanding amounts with Black Belt Poker to make their withdrawals before the 28th of Feb as this is the fastest way to get all outstanding amounts remitted. However, he assures players that if for some reason they are unable to withdraw their amounts in time, they can contact him directly and work out an arrangement where their outstanding amount will be remitted manually. The main difference with this is that automatic payments will be done faster and manual payments will take a little more time.
Channing went on to say that
Sadly sometimes in life you just have to accept that things are not working and you need to move on. That time has come with Black Belt Poker. All that remains is for me to thank everyone who invested, who worked hard for us, who were sponsored by us, who participated in poker discussions on our website and particularly those who played on Black Belt Poker.
Players can contact Channing by sending him an email at neil@blackbeltpoker.com
