A Canadian online casino has become the latest company to pledge money to the ongoing relief effort in Japan following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami last week. MapleCasino.ca is to donate 50,000 Yen (US$630) to the Japanese Red Cross in the hope that it will also prompt other online casinos to follow suit.
Charlotte Jackson, Casino Manager for MapleCasino.ca, commented, “When we heard that Japan had been struck by an earthquake, we did not expect this to be followed by a second disaster, namely the tsunami. The magnitude of life that has been lost is tragic and many of the earthquake and tsunami victims have loved ones to mourn.
“With this in mind, we feel it is our duty to make a donation to the Japanese Red Cross Society, which we hope will benefit the victims of this disaster. We firmly believe that when these tragedies strike, it is important for businesses to step up to the plate and assist in any way possible.” Ms. Jackson concluded.
Zynga donated money to the relief effort earlier this week and MapleCasino’s call to arms is similar to the call Calvin Ayre put out to the industry to help the stricken island of Haiti last year.
The end of this month will spell the end for an online casino after Jackpot Games announced that they’d be closing the site with immediate effect from 31 March 2011.
No reason was given for the closure and the news on the site read as follows:
“This is a notice informing you that Jackpot Games will be stopping its operations. The set date is 31st of March, at which point the website will be taken down. Therefore we strongly recommend that you request withdrawals of your remaining funds as soon as possible.
“Should you not be able to withdraw your funds before the 31st of March, Jackpot-Games will return them to the account you used to make your last deposit.
“Please note that due to the high volume of withdrawal requests being anticipated, it may take more than 48hrs for your funds to show on your account. LGA have been informed and they will be monitoring all remaining funds post 31st March 2011 ensuring all payments have been processed.
“We thank you for your loyalty towards Jackpot Games and do not hesitate to contact us if you require further info.”
This comes after predictions by Calvin Ayre that the online poker world see a number of closures this year. The first of these was BigBet Poker early in January, and it was followed by the closure of Brobury Sports in the same month, so a casino closing won’t come as a huge surprise.
