Does Merge offer sports betting/casino games?

yesizzle. Blackjack and roullette.

Ugh so they actually are breaking the law and the DoJ has grounds to seize funds. That's not so good.

indeed. not good news at all. i'm just trying to figure out if cashing out right now is a good idea or i might just grab some beers.

My cashout request on RPM has been pending for over 3 weeks now... given this latest news, I hope it comes soon.

And I hope the check is good

yeah let us know how it goes.

it seems like one of the indicted sites is a merge skin called beted. it seems like the DoJ is going after the processors first and then shutting down related sites. so hopefully, merge has been using processors that aren't going to get caught.

Not to sound like a dick, but imo no one should have been playing with any money on merge that was at all important. Realistically, what did you think would happen on merge after black friday? Not only that, since only Stars has paid out funds - I think a site like merge would be very unlikely to pay out anything ever.

i think you have very little basis for what your saying about a hypothetical situation involving the popular merge skins. it's the same thing that people were saying right after black friday. yet, all three sites have made strides to get our money back. just look at AP/UB. those guys fired 95% of their employees, filed for bankruptcy, and have been involved in shady activities since it's inception. Yet, they are planning to pay out, eventually.

though AP/UB are more visible to the public eye, the merge network is huge and spans several websites that probably bring in a fair amount of revenue. the skins operate on different levels in some sense, but it's a unified organization that handles the operations.

that said, i agree that important money should not have been deposited on merge. if having money stuck on a site for periods of time is an issue then you have a problem on your hands. however, i wouldn't be scared about not getting money back.

eh kinda naive to say UB/AP will be paying out eventually. Non-US players aren't even getting their money. tbh I'm kinda assuming Merge will go the way of UB/AP if they do get domains seized. The thing is they don't really offer anything other than WU for deposits right and doubt the government will be seizing WU. And cashouts are legal and expressly allowed under the UIGEA even if they can argue that Merge is unlawful internet gambling because of casino games. Although I really wish they'd just get rid of all the random gambling games not commit any fraud and then if they get seized actually fight the issue in court. I'm probably dreaming though because fighting it in court is like a reverse freeroll to them if they're in a country they can't be extradited from.

i disagree it's naive. there is an official agreement with the DoJ that explicitly states that they are making steps towards paying out players. it's not UB/AP making some baseless statements. it's contractual. if anything, the statements like "if you have money on AP/UB, you are ****ed" are more naive and more likely to be false than the aforementioned agreement. also, non-US players are getting their money from AP/UB. they are just limited in how much they can withdraw at a time.

WU is not really an issue. every site has a payment processor that acts as a liason between the deposit/withdrawal method and the site. when you deposited through WU, your money went to a payment processor that in turn put money on merge (that's how i understand it). so, merge skins like carbon and rpm can still be ****ed in the ass, but somehow they are still clean...for now.

looking to trade discounted merge funds pm me

Is this actually true? I know with FTP it was only "we're not stopping them from paying out players" it wasn't "we're helping them pay out players" or "they are required to pay out players".

Also if I can cancel my WU I'm probably buying some BCP funds if someone will sell for paypal or something at a vig now that I have pms you can pm me offers I don't really wanna say who I am but I can get someone to vouch for me and I'll send first if you're reputable.

yeah i'm too lazy to look it up, but there is a thread with a link that shows the document with AP/UB making an agreement with the DoJ. Yeah I mean it's not like the DoJ is forcing the hand of FTP or AP/UB. But they made an agreement to free up processors or funds to do this. There is no reason to think that they are doing this for ****s and giggles or for other shady purposes like sending Howard Lederer to some remote island. I mean 2p2ers are generally pessimistic about things. I guess poker players are generally not optimists. But companies don't strike deals like this just to strike a deal and not do what they say. This isn't the mafia. Your getting your money back. Just wait and stay patient.

Also, Redline - I doubt anyone is going to buy money from you given that you are using a pseudo account and won't reveal yourself. No offense, but that sounds really shady. When doing business, people have a right to know who you are, where you live (so we can come get you if you **** us), and people who vouch for you (meaning guys who would be responsible for the money if you decide to run with the money). At the moment, I would rather roll up trees in money, burn it, and stick it up my ass then do business with someone that advertises like that.

I've been trying to cash out my RPM balance since April 16th (it's not much, but I want it offline)

First attempt failed because of needing ID verification - that took 2 weeks to get in place.

Second attempt is still waiting...

people love to say this and i'm not sure why

But they got their domain back, so that was their incentive right there.

First off I'm buying they'd be selling. Secondly not only did I say I'd get people to vouch (a real vouch not fake vouches you see all the time here so yes they'd be on the line for it and I'd probably escrow them some rl money to cover it so they had 0 risk) but I also offered to send first to reputable people so there is absolutely 0 risk. How many people in the transfer thread here give their real name, city, or any other info? My original sn not many people knew my real info but I'm assuming people here would snap trade with me. I just don't want people I play against at merge to know my other site names, want to start off with a clean slate. Goal of this 2p2 account was to get people tilted at me just in case my name didn't tilt them enough but now that there are far more important things than table images to discuss I don't feel the need to type like a ****** every post.

So since I can't request a second check (first still pending), should I transfer to a friends account and have them withdraw? Or is that shenanigans that might get me in trouble? Opinions please.

Seems like common sense to me. I played 50NL Rush on FTP but I play 10NL on Merge and it is not because the games are tougher on merge.

It is not even because I worry about AP/UB cheating or microgaming style bankruptcy. The DOJ is coming after sites and we are pretty much screwed (in the USA) until we get an iPoker bill.

I continue to play on merge because I like the game and as a "**** you" to the DOJ but there is no way I'm putting a roll sufficient to play 50NL on there now.

YMMV.

Fair enough. Now I would do business with you (though I have Carbon). You weren't clear in the first post and I was just giving you advice so that you can get some business.

The domain names of each of those sites are still seized. If you go to stars, ftp, or ub/ap, they have a warning. There is no incentive to make a deal other than to get players' money back. Now you can say that they want to get players' money back in order to keep business rolling. But regardless, they are going to give it back. I'd be willing to prop bet on this for serious amounts of loot.

My point is that it's really easy to judge what people do when you're not in their position. I had to deposit what a significant amount of money online in order to generate an income. Obviously I didn't want to take that risk but it was necessary in my situation. I really don't see how telling others they should have been 'smarter' is productive in any way, shape, or form. Thousands of posts like that since Black Friday and I lol every time I read one...seems like a form of 'I told you so' which is a pretty laughable attitude.

Do you have to go through the whole identification process to request a check? Or just for transfer type withdrawals?

Got all the ducks in line to get a small deposit on Merge and then this new Post Black Friday news got me scared... what would you guys do in my shoes?

As of now I would strongly urge you NOT to deposit. At the very least wait awhile.

It seems this time they are alleging sports betting which is against the law in Maryland.

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2011/0...g-do-10461.htm

Also, I just noticed RPM closed the thread flip started asking for their response.

Merge, you owe me some buy-ins.