Bitcoin Poker Giant Seals With Clubs Shutting Down

The shutdown stemmed from security vulnerabilities. The team had prepared a 2.0 version for next month, but Bryon Micon, the site's chairman, will use that code to launch his own poker platform instead. Most of the current team won't follow him. They're pursuing other paths. The staff's refusal to move with Micon suggests possible internal discord, but the departing workers haven't publicly identified any rift. The new site will operate without the internal controls that the old one maintained, a point the original team stressed.

Micon and his associates are setting up in Antigua, the primary island of Antigua and Barbuda, a West Indies nation known for issuing gambling licenses. The motivation for the relocation hasn't been disclosed, but the jurisdiction's regulatory framework makes the appeal obvious. The original team won't share passwords or account data. They will transfer account names, email addresses, and Krill balances, which make up the site's rewards program. Micon hasn't clarified whether Krill points will carry over to the new platform.

Seals with Clubs was born in response to the 2011 federal prosecution of online gambling enterprises. Bitcoin's pseudonymous nature allowed the site to offer greater privacy than conventional operations requiring credit card information. That advantage fueled growth from the August 2011 launch onward. The platform ranks first when people search Google for "bitcoin poker." Alternatives include Nitrogensports, PokerShibes for Dogecoin enthusiasts, and Betcoin.