Heart attack killed online gambling magnate Warren Cloud
While there have been a number of claims that online casino magnate Warren Cloud is dead, these have not been confirmed as yet. One of Real Time Gambling’s biggest online casino licensees, it is believed that Warren Cloud has died of a heart attack on a boat break of the Spanish resort of Ibiza. If the news is true it will bring down the curtain of one of the most charismatic and controversial characters ever to be involved in online gaming.
The South African online gambling entrepreneur used several aliases and was also known as “Don Fortune,” “Richard Brooks” or “Oliver Curran” to many. Warren Cloud eventually became the biggest and most successful of the Real Time Gaming-powered casino operators with venues like Crystal Palace, High Rollers Lounge, Vegas Riches, Golden Nile Casino, Royal Circus Casino, Vegas Frontier Casino and many other brands.
Starting out in Johannesburg, South Africa over nine years ago with an online casino powered by Korean software, Warren Cloud was not initially successful and left many players unpaid when he relocated elsewhere, first to Australia and then London. However, his new businesses flourished - albeit with a questionable reputation - after he started using RTG software and based his operations in Costa Rica.
That success was so pronounced that he at one stage contemplated launching an IPO on the London AIM market worth £140 million. This did not materialise, however, and there were rumours that Warren Cloud had instead secured investment finances from a wealthy European businessman.
Often at the centre of controversial decisions to the detriment of individual players, leading to widely publicised disputes, Cloud had in recent times taken a lower profile, leading to speculation that he may have retired despite his relatively young age. He leaves a widow and one child.
Brian Bailey, who runs the enormously successful CasinoMeister website has stated that Cloud’s online casino group once appeared on his “rogue” list but were eventually removed from that category after lengthy conversations with Mr. Cloud.
