After just short of four months online the subscription poker site LiveAce has called it a day, citing the most fundamental of business reasons…an inability to generate sufficient revenue to cover operational costs.
Although the subscription business model is not uncommon among US online poker sites trying to ensure they are operating legally under sweepstake laws, LiveAce had devised a business structure that it claimed was unique.
It offered rake-free cash games and allowed punters to offer chips for sale for real money at regular daily auctions run by the operator.
The operator and CEO, Adam D. Stein-Sapir, had carefully sussed out the laws applicable in target states, and accepted only those he was sure had sweepstake laws – reportedly just over half of US states.
This week LiveAce announced that it has “suspended” activity, explaining in a website notification that it had not been able to deliver sufficient revenues to cover the expense of operating the site.
However, it will continue to assist players with legitimate cash claims in respect of unused subscriptions or auctioned chip purchases until the beginning of March 2014.
Strangely, players have been urged to submit claims by regular mail instead of email.