One of the poker headlines that captured a lot of attention last year, was the unilateral closing of PokerShare by it's licensor Excapsa in November, 2005. The poker site was very popular among players because it offered it's players a 40 percent share of it's profits. According to Lawrie Holmes from the Sunday Express, PokerShare is now filing a £100 million lawsuit against Excapa's largest licensee UltimateBet, directly threatening UltimateBet's plans for a £200 million flotation later this year.
PokerShare was so popular among players that many transferred their accounts from UltimateBet to it's competitor. Though the exact nature of the dispute is unknown, many poker insiders think it was UltimateBet who pushed it's licensor Excapsa to shutdown Pokershare. In fact some people argue that Excapsa and UltimateBet are in fact the same entity for all practical purposes.
PokerShare already announced back in November that it considered filing suit against Excapsa. From an e-mail they send their players we quote: "We do not accept that the license has been validly terminated and our lawyers are currently reviewing the position."
According to the Sunday Express, PokerShare has now formally filed suit against UltimateBet/Excapsa for a whopping £100 million. The amount of damages seeked seem a bit high, even considering PokerShare reportedly generated £28,000 per day at the time of closing.