Mike McDonald's PokerShares Poker Betting Platform to Fold in 2024
December 30, 2024 Jon
Sofen Senior Editor U.S.
PokerShares, known as the 2️⃣ prominent sports betting platform,
will cease to exist in January, the company announced in a five-part Twitter thread
Wednesday.
The website 2️⃣ was founded by former poker pro Mike "Timex" McDonald, an avid
gambler and investor. PokerShares allowed players and fans to 2️⃣ wager on various poker
events and tournaments such as the Doug Polk vs. Daniel Negreanu heads-up challenge,
along with high 2️⃣ rollers and more.
All Good Things Must Come to an End
McDonald launched
the site in early 2024, and the main purpose 2️⃣ for PokerShares was to give fans and
investors an opportunity to have some skin in a poker contest even when 2️⃣ they weren't
playing. Users could purchase virtual shares of a certain player in a tournament. The
gambling platform was also 2️⃣ useful when it came to wagers traditional bookies didn't
offer, such as Polk vs. Negreanu and all the other heads-up 2️⃣ challenges from the past
couple of years.
But after five years, McDonald decided it's time to fold. PokerShares
announced its decision 2️⃣ to call it quits starting sometime next month, but didn't
provide specific details as to why, just a general comment.
It 2️⃣ has been a rewarding
experience to help make the poker staking market more efficient, give fans at home more
ski… 2️⃣ //t.co/1jnbMIXSUd — PokerShares (@pokershares)
The @pokershares Twitter
account continued: "As time has progressed our team has grown more focussed on other
2️⃣ ventures, and grown further removed from the ins and outs of top-level poker, as well
as found regulatory limitations have 2️⃣ limited our ability to continue growing our
business effectively."
The site will discontinue accepting wagers and staking effective
in January, but 2️⃣ customers can still cash out any remaining funds through the month of
March.
McDonald, one of poker's most successful investors and 2️⃣ prop bettors, is
apparently more focused on his numerous other ventures, such as NFT's and
cryptocurrency.
Max Silver, who won a 2️⃣ World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in 2024,
joked about the downside to PokerShares shutting down.
What a great day for 2️⃣ medicore
regs who once won a named tournament //t.co/zLChMH3RE9 //t.co/9fTuksXZI5 —
Max Silver (@max_silver)
Nikolai Yakovenko (@ivan_bezdomny) wrote, "Thanks for having
2️⃣ this up for our enjoyment," as a quote tweet in response to the PokerShares
announcement. At the time of publishing, 2️⃣ there weren't many other comments of note
related to the news.
Sharelines Find out details on the @pokershares closure in this
2️⃣ article.