Planet Poker

[1][2] Without an existing model to follow, Planet Poker founder Randy Blumer was entering uncharted territory.

During the initial launch and testing phases in late 1997, Planet Poker started to build a customer base by placing advertisements in Card Player magazine.

As days turned to weeks, the small group of customers began to grow and the poker games started to run longer.

[citation needed] By the early summer of 1998, Planet Poker had amassed a following, and games regularly ran around the clock.

Planet Poker assembled an in-house team to address the backend issues, but the playing features were more of a challenge.

[citation needed] Implementation of new playing features required changes to the core game software and Planet had to rely on the third-party supplier to make them.

Planet would not launch its new system until 2004 and by this time, Party Poker dominated the industry, with a handful of rivals clustered near second place.

There was continuing explosive growth in the number of online poker players, but while Planet still retained a loyal customer base, it wasn't able to increase its critical mass to a point where it could compete with the larger sites.

[citation needed] In September 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the U.S. changed the legal landscape for the industry.

[citation needed] In response to the UIGEA, however, Planet Poker suspended real money operations in March 2007.