Hi, thanks for the post, much appreciated, again, I do feel like this is a very complex situation and for what our focus is for Hero, as a boutique site, this is the best course of action.

I can't speak on behalf of Merge, but in my professional opinion they have done a remarkable job in managing the exponential growth, as you can see by the responsiveness of Merge itself in this thread alone. Even though there are some growing pains, they are ramping up extremely quickly. Because its not like Hero is not going to enter into other markets and not make their job harder =) but of course I'm a shill and think they can more than handle it.

Yes, and even those who have yet to deposit, again; Merge is still handling payments and so nothing changes for our existing players, except that I hope we can increase service across the board.

I recommend a twitter account for Hero Poker.

I'm embarrassed to say that we do have one and that I do have a full time social media staff working on it and that I have little idea about how social media works and so I've left it all to her. But this was the set up month, so next month I will be more involved with it. But as soon as I confirm it, I'll let everyone know.

Cheers,
Dave

They like tournies fast. Unfortunately, that 10bb is necessary in fast tournies with 1k starting chips (been playing on the site a bit). While many are short time rounds, this is necessary for an edge from skill, otherwise - 1k doesn't go too far.

PS - this isn't Stars or Tilt, its different. You need to adjust your SNG and Tourney strategy - which I did. It took a few losses to adjust to the shorter stack play - but you can do.

Which is why, when adjusting - I prefer playing with Tickets, or freebies. Something good at stake preferably - I stated with those Fun Step SNGs, and obviously freerolls. While this may be beneath some players - I think its better than lumping a bankroll on the line, THEN learning to adjust your game. (PS - some of those games have regulars, and they aren't as easy to beat as you think).

The big 3 were easy to adjust to, and with a little time - I ran well on the top 2. This site is different, and just takes adjusting. But please, don't expect them to become a Stars or FTP, they want to rake some money too, and many of the skins won't necessarily agree to this structure.

Just my 10 cents adjusted for inflation.

Does this mean the US only Freerolls stop? Are there other free rolls Hero specific that we can join? So glad I made account prior (I like your site, software has no casino, we still play with full player pool of Merge - so my nemeses on Carbon are still available to me )

Also, glad you stipulated we could still deposit if we wanted to (or haven't yet).

As to twitter, I think the poor dude (dirty diana, love that song), is busy enough, IF you read his big little post of a blog update a page back or so.

Nope, everything for existing US players continue as is and hopefully month on month will increase as well as I get to know the player base more. This is not a set back, its for us to provide better service and I know this goes contrary to what most site would do, but I'd rather work out really establishing our boutique level service systematically with our core players and then roll that out. I've said it before, if I have to chose standards and prioritizing my players over growth, then I will. I have two major markets that I have full marketing teams for which are on stand by, so my work load really isn't going to change.

But the core of our business is really this boutique level of service and only I can really flush that out and we still have a far way to go. And when I think of this service I'm thinking of it on all possible levels, not just how quickly I can respond to an email, but extending to the player's level of basic confidence in us. I guess it comes down to aiming to be both a private swiss bank along with being a four seasons hotel when it comes to this industry.
We're still growing, but growing through consolidation and stability not through just a focus on player numbers.

Totally agree with this as well....

i think the tourneys would run about the same length if you took out the 5/10 level and added 20/40 and 30/60 levels. i would rather have more medium blind rounds than a really small blind round that goes rapidly to a large blind round. also most sngs ive played start with 1500 chips.

Ok, a few questions:

If I have an account on Carbon, can I open an account on Hero as well? Will this cause any security issues? (Obv can't play on both at the same time) I saw somewhere that some players may have had problems/accounts suspended when they had merge accounts on more than one skin?

If I open a Hero account before May 25, but do not deposit (USA player), will I be able to deposit after May 25?

Would I have to deposit before May 25 to have a rakeback account? Before June 1st?

Thank you.

Which is why I pointed out the difference between the ole Stars and Tilt (which we are familiar with), and this software.

However, if they want to switch them to those types, they can do so, just don't know if they will.

None of it matters since it is the end of the world today....

in all seriousness, yes to all your questions

David i just wanted to thank you for setting up my RB. Since you set it up this morning i assume my first payment will be tomorrow?

Sorry for the delay in getting to these posts now, will do posts then PM:

Its fine to open an account on Hero, it will not cause security issues unless you multi-account on different computers in which case you'd get banned.

If you open an account you can deposit next year if you like, and there is no need to deposit to get a RB account, this should be sorted before June 1st though, but your account needs to be registered before end of day May 25 if you are from the US.

Also thanks to Diana for answering first, she is correct, but just realized that she did after I wrote this. lol.

Cheers,
David

Yes, it will be sir, the next day shortly after 00:00 server time.

cheers,
David

I need to find a new site that can process withdrawls quicky. I dont like keeping tons of money online if i win after a depoist. What kinda of timeline can you guarntee for ACH to your account?

^^^^^^
This. Why do people not realise that the EFT's and ACH's are why the big 3 got indicted? They gave the people what they wanted, fast cashouts, but in the process had to bend the rules. They were also cheaper for the sites and players rather than a Wire Transfer. Do some research into the difference between EFT's and Bank Wire Transfers and you will learn that pressuring sites into faster cashouts can lead to disaster.

Thanks dstock for that very valid observation.

Hi Buddha26,
I completely understand your position as well and unfortunately I can't give you the timeline that you are looking for. Currently for US players there are only 2 withdraw options: checks and pay2click, and checks have a wide timeline between 2-6 weeks, but will get to you.

I hope in the future the network can provide better withdraw options, but for the moment that is it. But while Hero will not be taking on new US players from May 25, most other Merge skins like RPM will be.

Cheers,
David

Any news on when this announce will be made?

Is there any way for merge to change their tournament payout structures so that a mincash actually covers the buyin?

Example: 11 dollar tourney, min-cash for places 50-31 = $8.97.

lolwut?

Actually, I meant to mention this as well...playing the late-night 5 dollar bounty freezeout, pays out to 20th but 11th-20th are pretty much like 3.86 or something. I'd rather have no payouts until, say, 14 or 15th place, but pay out 5.50 or more to cover the buyin.

In a bounty tourney 2.50 goes to the prize pool and 2.50 goes toward your bounty. So a 3.86 mincash would technically cover the buy in.

Announcing shortly, still sorting out the accounting, but even if I can't still will announce soon (within the hour) and work out the accounting later
Sorry.
Dave

Thanks Dave, looking forward to hearing it.