Hello 2+2,

As many of you reading this already know, myself and a group of other super turbo grinders petitioned Merge to change the Super Turbo structure from its current incredibly fast (10bbs to 5bbs in the first blind increase) to the old FTP structure that starts at 10bbs and works it way to 5bbs much slower via 10>7.5>6>5 structure. There is more info to be seen in below post from the Merge Network Discussion thread. There was a ton of support in that thread following this post if anyone wants to read it and see some of the other ideas that were spawned from those conversations.

For the last month I have been discussing these changes with Justin (VIP HOST JUSTIN) from Carbon Poker who works directly with the Merge team that is in charge of these changes. I got an update on the progress from him today. Essentially Merge is a little gun shy about making these changes because of the negative outcry that erupted after their last attempt to change the structure. In one last effort of reassurance, Justin asked me to create a Poll (on top of the discussion that they read in the Merge Network Thread). If the Poll is clearly in favor of these changes, the changes will be made.

On top of the blind structure change was the discussion of the pay out structure changing to the more traditional, and less variance riddled 65/35 payout. So the voting will go as follows:
Change Structure/Change Payout (FTP Structure/FTP Payout or 65/35)
Change Stucture/Keep Payout (FTP Structure/Merge Payout or 70/30)
Keep Structure/Keep Payout (Everything as is)

Now I know there are a select few of you that want the 20bb structure again. I respect and understand your reasoning. However, please understand that for a majority of the players that play this game for a living (paying the highest rake to the site as well) this will result in a reduction in hourly. Further I have been assured that that structure will not be introduced again under any circumstances. Thus any discussion ITT about adding that to the poll, will be a waste of everyone's time, and further reduce our chances of receiving the changes we would all be happy with.

Thank you guys for reading, thank you for voting, and here is to hoping we get a slower 10bb structure that drives us up the wall a little bit less than the current one

Good luck grinding everyone!!


(Below is post from Merge Network Thread with more specific info about changes)

[QUOTE=LTT777;33245077]Hey Paul,

I was one of the guys against the previous structure, but not for the reasons you probably think. I am all for a deeper structure, I just believe the 20bb starting stack created far too slow of a game, that it dropped every single grinder's hourly by a margin that would not be compensated by the edge gained. I played as many of the new structure as probably anybody, and game length nearly doubled. In the midst of major promotions that required serious volume, this was going to hurt many players by a far greater margin than it was going to help anyone.

With that said, I am very much for a deeper mid game structure. I think the current Lock/Old FTP structure is amazing. The blinds increase at much shallower rate allowing for much more play at the 2nd and 3rd blind levels. Not simply desperation shoving at 4/5 bbs after the first blind level change like Merge's current structure.

This is obv an advertisement for lock but I think Hubbard does a good job of explaining the differences here.

http://www.jaredhubbard.com/blog/com...vs-merge-sngs/

specifically, the section on Super/Hyper Turbo 6m SNGs

Minute 1: Merge: 10BBs Vs Poker/Revolution Gaming: 10BBs

Minute 3: Merge: 5BBs Vs Poker/Revolution Gaming: 7.5BBs

Minute 6: Merge: 3.33BBs Vs Poker/Revolution Gaming: 6BBs

Minute 9: Merge: 2.5BBs Vs Poker/Revolution Gaming: 5BBs

Minute 12: Merge: 1.67BBs Vs Poker/Revolution Gaming: 3.75BBs

Minute 15: Merge: 1BB Vs Poker/Revolution Gaming: 3BBs

Anyway in coordination with VIP Host Justin from Carbon I have sent a letter from my self and roughly 20 other regulars who account for 6 figures in rake per month requesting either this structure, or one very similar that starts at 10bbs, but plays much deeper in the middle (come up with a new starting stack number that allows for 10>7.5>6>5 instead of 10>5). I feel this is the best compromise between guys who want the very deep (20bb) 10 minute game structure, and the pathetic souls grinding out RB like myself .

If you like this idea and want to help bring it to fruition, please leave your support here and I will make sure it is seen by the appropriate people at Merge. We were in discussions about this a day or two before they launched the new software, and as you know that did not go as smoothly as planned so it put our issue on the back burner for a little while. But the software is looking good and we should be up for discussion again soon, so any and all support is greatly appreciated and will go a long way.

Power in numbers [/QUOTE

If anyone has any other questions regarding the issue at hand that I may have skipped over, feel free to ask. I kind of rushed to put this together as I have been very busy, and hope to get this up and running ASAP!

I think the FTP st's were absolutely perfect, and Merge needs to mirror this structure for their games.

Starting 10bb's deep keeps it so the avg game length doesn't get too big (like the PS hypers which start 25bbs deep (500chips) and go from 10/20 to 15/30 to 20/40 etc), but with the slower structure, it'll allow for a bigger skill edge than currently possible because of the ridiculous structure while not increasing the avg game time that much which will mean our hourly's will be sustained.

I def want to keep 10 bb starting stacks, starting with more than that would be a mistake IMO.

I don't care as much about the payouts, but it being changed to 65/35 would be a good thing as well

Would love to see changes implemented for July 1st, I'll be grinding 15k+ super turbos this coming month!

[x] Change Structure/Change Payout (FTP/FTP)

I believe this is a good format. It will be even more popular on average for recreational players that want a quick game, since it will have a little more play to it; there's still plenty of variance to allow gamblers to run up some winnings; and there's a bit more edge to be had with slightly less variance for the dedicated player.

+1 on the July 1st date.

+1 Merge change these games ASAP B4 Lock Poker gets there site in order and beats you to it imho.

Voted ftp/merge. Don't really care about the payouts, a slower structure is nice. Where is the communication on these changes? I don't really like surprises and it would be nice if there was communication. I didn't see any previous thread on changes, but maybe I just missed it.

Voted to change both structure and payout. Please do this Merge!

FTP/FTP all the way

I would love to see the changes start July 1st! Plz ban Jdawg for 30 days as well. J/k i'll see you at the tables sir.

They have Pokerstars esque $10 supers in the lobby atm!

Personally I want these, but I realize that no one else does They need to do have some sort of poll/survey thing that pops up when you login. imo

Keep in mind this ain't just about us this is one of the most popular games for everyone on the site, the fishy should have some input too.

**** your hourly! ;D How much do you really think it'd go down? Plus sure your hourly goes down, but hey you can do something besides click allin/fold all day

I can honestly say I have no idea what is going on with the merge lobby. I was assured TODAY they needed a very heavy vote for our side for them to make a change, and now they are making a completely unrelated change to Stars structure and have both options there. I guess I'll just wait and see how this one turns out. Hoping it is a mistake.

i like the levels they have now, they are all basic levels. These new super turbo (two minute levels) that were just added have the dumbest levels ever 105/210 etc...How am i supposed to do quick math with retarded blinds as such, and the antes, dont need those either

They just introduced some new ST's with 2 minute levels and 500 starting chips, u guys wanting slower structure can play these IMO. 65/35 pay structure to

Keep everything as is

Guise, swift room, lets make some rake.

Merge Leveled us guys lol

To be clear, this poll is not for these 2-minute level games that just started showing up. The structure being voted on is:

3 minute blind levels

15/30
20/40
25/50
30/60
40/80
50/100
60/120
80/160
100/200
120/240
150/300

[edit] 300 chip starting stack. Thanks LTT777!