Is It Curtains for Pokertrillion?

Everleaf Gaming Ltd., poker network partner to the troubled operator Pokertillion, said in a prepared statement last Saturday that it had "assumed full responsibility" for Pokertrillion's players.

Pokertrillion, readers may recall, instigated a short-lived but high-profile lawsuit against Boss Media A.B. on Malta in April 2008 over the conditions of its seemingly rancorous split with Boss Media's International Poker Network.

Boss Media said in a press release then that Pokertrillion had been thrown off its network for "rakeback violations," but Andrew Pyrah, chief executive of Pokertrillion, countered via press release that Pokertrillion was subject to "mistreatment" on that network.

Although Mr. Pyrah would later claim that a Maltese civil court had authorized the seizure of certain Boss Media servers on the Mediterranean island nation, the suit was abruptly dropped in September when Pokertrillion announced it had withdrawn all claims against Boss Media.

Now, Pokertrillion's stay on the Everleaf network, which began in late April 2008, appears to be at an end. Without elaborating further, Everleaf indicated that Pokertrillion's players could, from Jan. 31, 2009, access the Everleaf network through a site called Rockem Poker.

Everleaf Gaming, licensed by the Maltese Lotteries and Gaming Authority, said that Colin Hawker, the former head of operations at Pokertrillion, would "continue to service both players and affiliates at Rockem Poker."

In previous press releases from Pokertrillion, Mr. Hawker was listed as the company's marketing director. He did not reply to an e-mail Wednesday, sent to his new address with Rockem, seeking comment.

Mr. Pyrah's current level of involvement with Everleaf and Rockem remains unclear. He did not return an e-mail and a phone call Wednesday.

Prior to his time as head of Pokertrillion, Mr. Pyrah worked alongside Barry Hearn, an English entrepreneur and founder of the promotions company Matchroom Sport.

Franz Gerhard, identified in an April 2008 press release as a spokesman for Everleaf Gaming, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.