Yeah people were freaking out in the carbon thread that the network was backing out of the US. But honestly its good to have sportsbooks on the network to stop adding US customers, since that expressly violates the wire act.

I think they made a few changes last night. They started labeling all super turbos with st, and added some lower buyin sts and a few other games I think. They might have dropped rake on a couple games too. Like I said, they have been really responsive to customer suggestions.

It's good that there's already a bunch of degenerate fish with sportsbook accounts in the US that won't be affected, but does suck that it will preclude some additional fish from getting on that network. The sportsbooks are probably the best feeder of big fish.

I've only played there for a couple days at 25, 50 & 100nl (I only deposited 500, so I'm under-rolled for those games even) and have noticed this as well.

Could you guys tell me your user names over there? Please PM me if you dont want to out it in this thread. I'm cha5959 there. I'd like to avoid playing with a lot of 2+2ers if possible.

this... more to come on my own personal experience to date in a little bit. I registered last Friday and have played 40 tourneys since (mostly DONs... yuck )

Here's my brain dump for what it's worth. some of this is obvious and known maybe some of it isn't. hope it helps...

****** DO NOT TAKE EVERYTHING I WRITE HERE for being 100% ACCURATE. I could be wrong and feel free to say so and correct me *******

I used to play on bodog before I migrated to FT back in August 2010. I migrated because I outgrew the games/stakes and I wanted rakeback.

I'm checking out carbon now because it appears to have slightly more volume than bodog or cake and bodog does not offer any reload bonuses.

- 35% rakeback paid daily is nice
- onetime bonus is deceptive as it is very hard to clear (7 times as hard as FT)
- however, onetime bonus is not deducted from rakeback
- unlimited tables
- other promos - seems to be much more varied offers than bodog/cake. However, I'm too lazy to check out all the offerings and don't have time to play any tourneys that last longer than two hours anyways
- stats are tracked at sharkscope but not PTR (cash)
- works with HEM, PT and Sharkscope HUD (but sharkscope HUD kinda sux anyways). Make sure you download the most recent version of HEM!!
- does not work with Tourney Shark/Poker pro.
- not sure what is legal and what is not as far as tracking tools. I'd rather not know
- semi-consistent action up to $10 normal ring SNGs (bummed I can't find regular higher stakes)
- semi-consistent action up to $10 and $20 DONs
- don't get excited because by semi-consistent I mean you can find a game with 10-15 minutes
- higher stakes SNG action seems to be only at the heads up level ($100 stakes - would assume various regs sitting waiting for a game)
- consistent cash game action up to 200NL. Highest I have seen running is 400NL. Often just 1 or 2 full tables at 400NL.
- issues with my HEM. WHen I play $30 full ring SNGs it tracks as $10. no noticed issues at other $$ amounts
- registration lobby does not allow you to view or enter player notes or symbols (I table select. doesn't matter right now since I am just table praying for something $30 or higher to open up)
- chat. i actually liked seeing the chat in the corner. unfort. for those of us playing on cheap laptops (yes, that's me) screen space is a priority so keeping chat open takes up too much space because you have to have everything else open. I only run the software in the mini-mode so I can play 3-4 tables at once tiled. So I'm vookenmeister out there but don't say hi because I won't see it in the chat. PM me instead.

so.. i've spent the last week keeping the lobby open and sorting by players registered. Once I see a scattered tourney of $10 or more stacks (full ring only) start to fill up I registed. THis has resulted in my playing a lot of DONs. On a good note, I have still seen plenty of bad play so far (I watch the action on my tables). on a bad note, I expect all of you to join the site and play at some point.

Basically, short term it sux to be a full-time or semi-pro U.S. full ring SNG player. The games at Bodog, Carbon and Cake just don't fill up often enough at higher stakes to generate a great hourly rate. My days of high hourly rates are done unless the pace picks up. I would estimate right now my hourly will drop to 25% of what it was if I don't adjust or things don't change. It is enough to make me consider having a friend overseas setup an account for me so I can still play at Full Tilt. Hopefully the pace will pick up some.

Otherwise I will need to focus on playing heads up SNGs or at least 6 man SNGs or maybe back to the cash games. And I am not even a PRO!!!

Also, I usually only play 3-4 tables at a time anyways so I can't imagine how much the lack of volume is killing folks who multitable successfully and efficiently. I feel for those of you who are real pros and/or multi. GL!

holy crap, thanks dood

I feel like I'm gonna have to be multi-siting to get good volume which I NEED to pay my huge IRS bill lol

There's def higher cash games, I saw 5x 5/10 games running a few nights ago. Only 1-2 fish/table (as usual at a 6max game), but games are there if you wanna play em! Saw some decently high heads up cash/sng action going down, even a few fishies were playin

Oops. Forgot to mention I was talking full ring cash not 6max. I feel 6max requires stronger skilz so due to my true NITty nature I still focus on full ring

Thanks Vook. Did you HEM HUD work right away? I needed quite a bit of fiddling to get things sorted.

Unless the fishies start showing up in large numbers, the days of playing 10+ STTs (excluding DONs) at mid-stakes and above appear to be gone for now. Mixing things up (cash, MTT, STT, FR and 6-max) seems to be the new normal. Tough way to make an easy living.

Anyone use the Merge AHKs successfully yet?

I can't recall exactly what I fiddled with HEM-wise but it was minor. Granted I don't really use it in game a ton and haven't looked hard at data yet

Ive been using the merge ahk for about a week and its worked great. Im on carbon and someone from another skin told me it was buggy over there. Ive had my games freeze like 3 or 4 times, usually when im like watching a video and have a bunch of other programs running. IDK if its the poker software or the ahk is still buggy.

HEM works but the tournament summaries don't work as of now (it doesn't track BI or ev adjusted stats) because Merge apparently doesn't include the buy-in data in the hand history.

I find it quite annoyingly difficult to find what the buy-in is for a tournament I'm playing without hitting Info/Lobby.

Also it's really hard to multi-table on Merge. I have a 30 inch monitor and it only tiles 6 tables visibly (9 is way too small) and I hate the mini-view because it doesn't show chips etc. I put 6 on main and 2 on the other, so about 8 tables at a time.

Also they really need to get rid of all the popups.

edit: also my post seems overly negative when it's not intended to be. I am very thankful that a good/solid network like Merge actually exists (I find it better than Cereus fwiw but not as good as FTP/PS) and it's a whole hell of a lot better than the other sites remaining. The new Doyles Room has the worst software I've ever seen.

My HEM is tracking buy-in on Merge STTs

^did it just start doing it? What games have you been playing? As of last night at midnight, mine still wasnt. Is there some new update?

I almost hated to post that b/c I don't know why it's working.

- I have the very latest version of HEM (just downloaded 2 nights ago)
- I am playing low-stakes ($2 and $5) 10-man STTs
- I am using the RPM skin (shouldn't matter, I think)

HEM recognizes buy-in, finish position, and prize (e.g. $10 for 3rd, $15 for 2nd, $25 for 1st). The EV Redline also appears to be working, but sample size is too small to tell if it's at all accurate yet.

I wish I had "made" it work so I could tell people how, but mine just works.

hmm thats the stakes im playing.

have you looked at a hh from rpm? Does it have the buyin amount on it or just the name of the table (dragonfly,humminbird, etc)? Im on carbon so maybe its a skin thing. I think the ahk im using works better on carbon than other skins.

In all honesty, it might be a good thing i cant track and obsess over the redline:0