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Red Star Poker Leaving MPN, Joining iPoker Network

  • Move prompted by 2020 shutdown of Microgaming Poker Network (MPN)
  • Red Star is the first MPN skin to announce a move
  • Red Star founded in 2005, joined MPN in 2013
  • MPN customers can continue playing on network until it closes
Dan Katz

Dan Katz graduated with a BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Emory University. He clearly uses neither of those degrees now, having been writing about the gambling industry (specializing in poker) since 2005. Prior to that, he was an IT and management consultant. He is an avid gamer, primarily on PC, and enjoys collecting retro video games and consoles; finding room to set them all up is his current challenge. Dan lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and two children. You can get in touch with Dan at [email protected].

woman waving goodbye as she heads to her flight
Due to the Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) closing in 2020, Red Star Poker has announced that it is moving to the iPoker Network. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Moving to iPoker

Russian online poker room Red Star Poker has announced that it will be moving from the Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) to the iPoker Network. No specific timetable for the transition has been revealed. Red Star is the first MPN skin to announce its post-MPN plans.

The decision to jump networks is the result of Microgaming’s September announcement to shut down its poker operations. Red Star told its players of the change on its customer support forum, saying, in part:

We took a long time to choose a network that would be a good replacement for the existing one, and finally we found it.”

The iPoker Network currently ranks tenth in terms of cash game traffic, according to PokerScout.com. It was once a top-five network, absorbing many sites when the online poker industry was turned upside down after the UIGEA passed in the United States in 2006. A combination of decreased traffic and the emergence of regional, ring-fenced poker sites has pushed it down the standings in recent years.

MPN’s closing forced the relocation

MPN confirmed the closure of its poker network in a blog post on September 20. Alex Scott, managing director of the Microgaming Poker Network, said that an “extensive review into the poker product” was made before coming to the decision.

The network model no longer fits with our strategic vision for poker”

“The network model no longer fits with our strategic vision for poker, and this is the right time to announce the closure as we focus on redistributing key resources and personnel across the business,” said Microgaming CEO John Coleman in a press release at the time.

Coleman added that poker will not disappear from Microgaming altogether. Instead, the company will “follow a new strategic direction for the vertical,” details of which will be revealed at a future date. Microgaming also offers online casino, bingo, and sportsbook products, among others.

Alex Scott assured players that everyone’s money is safe and segregated from the company’s operating funds. Customers can continue playing on MPN until the network closes, which is expected in the second or third quarter of next year.

MPN, Red Star are the old guard

The Microgaming Poker Network has been one of the mainstays of the online poker industry, launching in 2003. Back then, it was called the Prima Poker Network. That name returned in 2018 as the moniker of MPN’s new software platform. And though MPN is shutting down next year, Microgaming did recently release updates to the poker client.

Counting Red Star, MPN has 16 member poker rooms, including betsafe, 32Red, betsson, and NordicBet. It has had dozens more over the years, as the online poker landscape is ever fluid.

Red Star Poker itself was founded in 2005 as an independent site, in the middle of the poker boom. It later joined the now-defunct Cake Poker Network. In 2013, Red Star became a part of the Microgaming Poker Network.

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