Royal Apollo and Planet 23 casinos close

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

Rumours that the Rival-powered Planet23 and Royal Apollo online casinos were in dire straits have been confirmed by Royal Apollo affiliate management, which has announced to affiliates that it has called it a day due to unspecified "ongoing issues" with software provider Rival Gaming.

Shortly thereafter, the website ceased to operate, and there is some doubt regarding advisories to players and whether Rival Gaming will support them.

The Royal Apollo affiliate communication said:

"Due to the ongoing issues we are having with processing and Rival management we will be closing down our site in the next few days."

"We are committed to providing top standards of gaming and support to both players and affiliates. This decision was not easy, but the ongoing issues are not allowing us to offer these standards. We hope (we can't enforce this as its Rival that holds all fees) that Rival will respect and honor the current and future revenue that you are entitled to."

Planet23 was also offline when InfoPowa went to press, and neither management responded to enquiries.

Launched only a year ago, the two operations are thought to have been white label operations operated through Rival associates Silverstone Overseas Ltd and Bonne Chance NV, although Planet23's ownership is registered in Cyprus as Phemosis Investment Ltd. Both were licensed in the Netherlands Antilles through Curacao.

There was evidence of slow-pay tactics some time before the issue became generally public, and the circumstances appear to parallel those of the management at Tradition Casino who recently retreated from the industry claiming differences with Rival Gaming.

The nature of the contracts between these operations and the Rival software company is unclear, but seems to suggest that the failed operators expect Rival to look after their players.

Rival has, as in the past, not commented on the issue.

Source: InfoPowa News