The past seven days was indeed a week of ends and conclusions as two influential names in the world of poker ultimately came to terms with their respective issues. First off is the tumultuous drama series of Phil Ivey’s divorce that was finally brought to a powerful conclusion. The second is Fortune Poker’s announcement of the immediate closure of its online poker rooms.

Phil Ivey’s Divorce Case Dismissed

After a painfully slow progress in the divorce proceedings of poker superstar and legend Phil ‘Polarizing’ Ivey, he once again rose up from this battle as the Nevada Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by his ex-wife, Luciaetta Ivey. She claimed that the cards were stacked against her when she no longer received her monthly support from Phil after their divorce in 2009 and sought reconsideration of the original divorce agreement ruling.

In her attempt to take more than her fair share from the vastness of Phil’s wealth, Luciaetta filed a petition for the removal of Judge Bill Gonzalez, the presiding justice of their divorce case. She claimed that Ivey’s $5,000 campaign contribution to Gonzalez made after the finalization of their divorce influenced the outcome of their divorce terms, leaving her unjustly compensated.

Gonzalez had ruled that once Ivey no longer receives his $920,000 monthly payment from Tiltware, the software company backing up Full Tilt Poker, his monthly financial support for his ex-wife will also cease to continue. Both parties had agreed to this ruling back then, but as soon as the checks stopped coming in on April 2011, Luciaetta instantly felt robbed of her right to her ex-husband’s riches.

Luciaetta, who was truly determined on switching the divorce settlements around in her favor, was disheartened when Nevada’s judicial system ruled against her motion to disqualify Gonzalez. According to reports, the contribution handed over to Gonzalez represented 14% of his total campaign donations in 2010. Nevada justices stated that the contributions given to the presiding judge were legal and that they also failed to show the existence of implied or actual bias on the part of the justice.

According to some sources, on top of her petition for Judge Gonzalez’s removal, Luciaetta also alleged that Phil’s attorneys, David Chesnoff and John Spilatro, conspired together to strip her of her portion of the couple’s worth. She further claimed malpractice by Spilatro due to his failure to exert any serious undertaking to ascertain the full nature of her ex-husband’s net worth. Phil’s ex-wife incurred a fortune from his wealth, with 40% of the couple’s stocks, 40% of his business payments, as well as a whopping $2.2 million worth of purses and jewelries on top of the $180k stipend.

The End of Fortune Poker

Another one bites the dust. One of the online poker rooms, Fortune Poker, has officially closed down its doors to the public last Monday. After the poker room thrived with its meager resources, it could no longer support its players and affiliates like it used to, causing the site to finally pull the plug.

About a week ago, Fortune poker customers received the heart-breaking news via an e-mail from Fortune Poker expressing the site’s decision of terminating its services. From March 31, the website will no longer offer its services online. However, its customers are given 24 hours to withdraw their online poker funds without any problems until the clock strikes twelve midnight on April 2. Although the site’s customers are in no danger of losing their money, their chances of having to wait longer will increase if they do not withdraw their funds within the dates outlined on Fortune Poker’s homepage.

As posted on the website, its other partners and affiliates will get paid on April 10, whereas customers who will fail to cash out before April 2 can still contact Fortune Poker through its customer representatives. However, the last day of getting in touch with the online poker site will be on April 15. Thereafter, the company is officially shut down. Anyone unable to settle their accounts with Fortune Poker before April 15 can send an email to [email protected] for withdrawal issues or [email protected] for gaming issues.

Running under Boss Media’s International Poker Network, Fortune Poker was launched in 2004 and offered cash game services to online poker players for nine long years. During its heyday, the site was reportedly vying for the top ten in rankings based on player traffic. Nevertheless, due to its continuous drop in traffic, the site has since been pining away in 26th place garnering an average of only 320 cash game players in a week.

For the past two months, the IPN suffered a tremendous decline in its cash game numbers as its player count dwindled down to around 50%, with only 500-600 players going online from its previous 900-1,000 players during peak periods of the day.

What would you have done if you were in Phil Ivey’s shoes? Have you ever played a cash game with Fortune Poker?