The online poker website Duplicate Poker closed its doors on Sunday 5 October - a victim of the current financial crisis. Players have been asked to withdraw their money from their accounts.

The financial crisis currently affecting the global economy is also hitting the poker world. The Duplicate Poker website has just become its first victim.

As the only site to offer a legal service in the United States, Duplicate Poker enjoyed early success, chalking up its 250,000th customer not long ago.

But today, 5 October, the site announced that it was closing down. Despite being reasonably strong and continuing to expand, Duplicate Poker did not quite have the resources to withstand the current economic climate.

The site has therefore closed its doors but is still allowing its customers to access their accounts in order to withdraw their money. In a press release, the Duplicate Poker team said that it hopes to return when the conditions are more favourable.