Not even close.

Lock claimed 40-45% of network.

First day ~34%.

First week 30%.

Longer term, it's under 30% and dropping.


Do you just believe what was espoused in the Lock forum, or did you read the industry reports by sites that track this sort of thing every day as a part of their normal business activities?

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Kahn

Believe it or not, i am one of those people who actually reads what goes on in the poker industry. So yes, it's not dropped by half, it has dropped by about 35-40%. This data comes from the comparisons over the last 6 months that i've read.

Before 1st of june the average active players over a month in a day was ~1750, now it's about ~1100 so that's close to 40% i believe.

I'm just stating a fact and not saying that Merge is a bad network, it's a good network but a big chunk of the players have been forcefully removed from the network making me wonder what will happen in 6 months - This was my initial point of posting which quite quickly got turned into "please stop trying to divide the U.S. online poker community" by Myx. Please, do keep in mind the point of my initial post.

I first joined RPM with rakeback also, but I still switched to Hero anyways long ago because of the promos they were offering way back then even. Besides if you look carefully at their VIP program the first 100 levels give back as much as RB I do believe. Just save up all the tourney tickets until level 100 then cash those in at one time. I made it to level 135 before I finally asked and received rakeback at Hero. I think the rule is just 60 days without playing on your original rakeback site. I was fine playing without rakeback on Hero for a year. Once you get high enough in levels it pays way more than rakeback does anyways, if you play a lot. I do enjoy the rakeback now plus the promotions, even though the VIP's earn at a lesser rate (65%) with rakeback and the promos are based on VIP's. Just means I have to earn 35% more VIP's with rakeback than without. So don't let not having rakeback stop you, the promos right now are worth about 100% rakeback for me. Anything else you get is just gravy.

Also, I started my roll from winning the freerolls they offered, so I never deposited on Hero. I deposited on my rakeback site RPM but after just one freeroll Hero offered a year ago for 10K I won enough to continue playing there til now. They still offer two daily freerolls you can play in to get started, plus they offer Omaha sng freerolls that you can play for free, they don't pay much but they run non stop. Once you win .33 cents they offer four different .33 tournaments daily with a guarantee that has an overlay of about 65%. I can make a quick 60 bucks in a few weeks just playing those for the .33 entry because of the overlays. It's just about impossible to go broke on Hero to be honest.

I would deposit quickly though rather than earn your bankroll from the free stuff and the good value stuff. I think missing out on the Chosen One promotions one day is a mistake. There are just so few people in them, especially the weeklys for $1500 that it's a big mistake not getting those VIP's starting today. It's only going to grow in numbers once Hero puts the promotion on it's webpage, or advertise it somewhere. Right now only the players in the Hero thread seem to know about it.

BCP AINEC

obviously lock is poop now, carbon is looking like stars these days lol

It's funny you say this..... The future may be interesting... *wink* *wink*

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Kahn

not really sure what "above sea level" is supposed to mean, but Merge is neck and neck with Revolution at this point and basically lost about a third of their traffic as a result of Lock leaving

i guess time will tell...it's only been a month and change so far

From what I have been reading the value of all Merge skins is the same as it is always 35% RB + network-wide rake race, right? Or is there a skin that stands out with its promotions offered? MY favs in terms of safety and repuation are Carbon and BCP so far...

Same seems to be true for affiliates. Looks like it doesn't really matter where to sign up because none of the big reputable affiliates really offer any extra value for grinders...only stuff i found were like freerolls for casuals.

I am raking like 2k a month and thus I would like to get the best deal possible. Any advice on where to get the highest value? Thx in advance

Seems like if you rake that much you should join a site with a VIP program that offers more than 35% rakeback as you move up in levels. I mean, take the rakeback first and then when you get to a certain level on the VIP program switch from rakeback to that. I know the skin I play at pays way more than 35% when you get to the top levels. Out of my reach, but not out of yours.

Yes, from what i have heard, these fellow gentleman operators that go by the name of 'Lock' are poopoo potty heads? I will try Carbon, Thanks sir. gl

Carbon, BCP or Hero ?

I vote for BCP ....

BCP support is slow and you have to wade through canned responses several times before someone actually addresses your specific issue. (No idea if this is any better or worse than other Merge skins though).

Another issue I had with BCP was that I got inundated with PM's offering me under the table rakeback deals

In the choice between Merge skins... Carbon

Insofar as why:

• Largest Operator on Merge
• Best and Biggest Promotions
• Awesome VIP support staff
• Dedicated Support Forum with 3 active reps
• Sick Color Scheme
• Carbon reps, unlike RPM reps *cough* RPMSeth *cough*, were not caught multi-accounting on 2+2 to bash competitors, buying player funds under assumed names at above market vig, or any other shenanigans
• Carbon has and always will offer all tournaments, freerolls, etc that some other operators mentioned opt out of

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Kahn

does Carbon let you withdraw via WU?