Reports: Bluff Media Winding Down Current Operations

Bluff.com is set to wind down current operations within the next few weeks, OPR has confirmed with several sources close to the situation.

The site will continue to exist in some yet-to-be-determined form, but the current staff and structure will be eliminated.

The news was first reported by Eric Morris:

BREAKING NEWS:@BLUFFMedia has let go of entire staff. Looks like operations will cease as of Aug 15th.Sad day for company I founded in 2004

— Eric Morris (@EricMorris1616) July 16, 2015

I have heard conflicting reports on the August 15th date cited by Morris.

Bluff is one of the oldest and best-known outlets covering live and online poker.

The company ceased its print component and transitioned to an online-only publication in January 2015.

Launched in 2004, Bluff was acquired by Churchill Downs in February 2012. The terms of the sale were not publicly disclosed, but Churchill is thought to have paid mid-seven figures for the property.

At the time of sale, the prevailing thought was that Bluff would transition into an acquisition engine for Churchill’s regulated online gambling offering.

But progress on the U.S. regulated online gambling front was slower than anticipated, and that sluggish pace undoubtedly decreased both the value Churchill placed on Bluff and the operational resources provided to Bluff.

It’s unclear what the impact will be on Bluff Europe, which is understood to be a licensee of the Bluff brand and not directly connected to the U.S. operation.