With South Africa Deeming Online Poker Illegal: PiggsPeak Casino and Poker Shut Down
Long established online casino and poker room PiggsPeak has shut down following a court ruling in South Africa that makes online gambling illegal.
The judge's decision states the gambling takes place where the play is, not where the gaming site's servers are physically located.
PiggsPeak and other online casino companies attempted to appeal a ruling by the North Gauteng High Court that declared Internet gambling illegal in the country.
A message on the PiggsPeak.com website reads: "Please note: Our casino will only be acceessible by players outside the borders of South Africa." They will now operate in the other Common Monetary Area of Southern Africa – this includes Swaziland, Lesotho and Nambia.”
The decision cost PiggsPeak nearly 90 percent of its player base and the company was forced to layoff most of its support staff. The online poker player pool had been reduced to an average of 15 players at a time prior to this week’s shutdown.
The company is allowing withdrawals to take place through its website.
PiggsPeak Poker and casino was one of Microgaming’s biggest clients at one time. The casino customers from most countries outside of South Africa from playing online.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
