Earlier in December, we reported on a rumor regarding the reopening of PokerRoom.com.  The site had claimed publicly that a tweet about the room’s reopening by a SEO manager was merely misunderstanding.  However our sources within bwin poker revealed that the former online poker room was being considered for reopening, but nothing official had been decided.  That changed on January 5th when PokerRoom.com officially relaunched their online poker room, marking the first time in online poker history that a formerly shut down online site reopened.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with PokerRoom, the website originally opened in 1999 when all online poker was free money play.  Soon after opening, they became one of the first online poker sites to offer live cash poker action.  Their willingness to be among the frontrunners in online poker became evident over the next decade as they set many firsts.

PokerRoom was the first ever poker site to receive a seal of approval from online regulator eCogra.  Next, PokerRoom was the first site to offer a fully downloadable Mac poker client.  They were also one of the only sites on the internet for a long time that offered Five Card Draw poker.  It took many of the larger sites close to 10 years to pick up draw poker on their sites.

PokerRoom returns to online poker as a member of the Ongame Network, currently owned by bwin poker.  As a result, this will not be available as an US poker room, but many feel that their reopening is coinciding with wave of change in the US regarding online poker legalization.  Furthermore, many feel that the PokerRoom brand name will be beneficial in helping bwin secure the sale of the Ongame Network.  The sale was reportedly in advanced stages in December, but no further news has been reported since that time.

News of the site’s return has been seen all over the internet and over social media, including Twitter and Facebook.  Players can take advantage of generous deposit bonuses of 100% up to $1,000.  Also, if you are a non-US players that never transferred your funds from PokerRoom to bwin after the site shut down in 2009, the site will actually honor your former bonus and you can start playing immediately.

All the customary games are available from the past era of PokerRoom, including some newer variations of poker tournaments such as heads-up events, deep stacked events, and turbo events.  Players can signup for an account in minutes and start playing right way thanks to numerous deposit options.

Whether PokerRoom will be able to survive and thrive in the current economic climate remains to be seen.  However, they have already beat the odds by just returning to online poker market, so anything is possible.

Tags: 10 Years, Brand Name, Cash Poker, Draw Poker, Free Money, Frontrunners, Further News, live poker, Ongame Network, Online Poker sites, Poker Action, Poker Client, Poker Free, Poker History, Poker Room, Pokerroom, Seal Of Approval, Time News, Tweet, Willingness

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.