Yes traffic has increased on all Networks still in US but clearly has increased the most on Merge. They have jumped 5 spots on Pokerscout since Black Friday and aren't slowing down from what I can see. It looks like traffic has almost doubled.

@RayRoss-Doyles Room is on the same Network as True Poker, so people kinda been discussing them. I play on True Poker some.

@runfromrvr-I would say the software that has the best functionality is Merge. True Poker/Doyles has pretty bad software ATM. They are supposed to be releasing new software very shortly though

How is the play on Merge? I've been thinking that without the all the poker shows on TV and the non-stop advertising, there is not going to be a steady supply of US fish to make up for all the US regs. Seeing people win piles of money on TV by people wearing poker logos plays a huge role in getting people to the tables. I'm under the impression that the average non poker player probably thinks the game is over and has no idea that anything other than FT or PS exists.

If the UIGEA caused the games to be tougher in 2006, I imagine things will be a lot worse now. Of course I could be wrong.

What is going to be the best site for tournament players in the U.S.? Not much of a cash game player.

Hope it's ok to cross-post. Since a lot of comments in this thread are about how black Friday has effected the level of competition for the remaining online, I figured I'd let ya'll know I set up a poll about whether the sites are softer or harder now. Cheers.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28/internet-poker/do-you-miss-us-1024168/

I saw the pole earlier, and it is interesting. However, it seems to apply to the sites where there was US traffic but not anymore (i.e. PS and FT). My question was concerning the smaller sites that still allow US players that are getting a significant influx of regs.

Can a US player who has mad a recent successful deposit PM me regarding depositing options onto Merge, Cake, etc.

So far most deposits I see that actually work for US players are from WU, many have tried using Visa but seems really hit or miss there with processors.

Edited: Referring to Merge networks (Carbon etc.)

[QUOTE=astrosuk;26086312]and so you all know I believe all Bodog cashouts are by check also they dont do bank transfers[/QUO

Depositing on Bodog is easy. It's withdrawing that's a pain. They want a faxed copy of your photo id etc.

I just want to clear something up...

All of the Merge network sites are just different skins right and are running the exact same games right? So if I am playing a tournament on Carbon, I am playing with the same players from Lock, RPM, and Sportsbook right?

Because I have been hearing of people making deposits on multiple skins under the Merge network. Why are they doing this?

From what I understand that is correct.

Possibly a dumb question here, but is there really THAT much a difference between any two poker sites in the same network? The player pool is identical ... which I believe is why you can't have 2 accounts w/ the same name at different rooms and why you can't play on two sites at the same time because you'd essentially be playing against yourself. And just from looking briefly at their sites, it seems like the bonuses & rakeback deals are practically the exact same among different sites of the same network.

Am I missing what the differences are here? I'm probably going to go w/ Merge but don't really know if it really matters which specific site. Please clarify if you think otherwise. Thanks.

Yeah, I'm definitely interested in that too because obviously they were not banned (thus the loss of traffic is probably tiny compared to PS & FT) and because they were small to begin with, so I figured the difference would be a lot less noticeable -- if noticeable at all at this point. That's probably a good topic for a separate poll though.

Tilt, I've read every page on that other thread 2 times and there's little if any useful info in it. Alot of confused people ranting about what's happened with FT,Stars and Absolut. I'd like to see some site specific information like Federer requested. For example has anyone played on Lockpoker,Bodog,any of the cake networks skins? for how long? what were deposit and withdraw times like?

I'm considering making a deposit in one of these sites very soon but I'd like to know a bit about them before I jump in. I just didn't see a lot of useful information on the other thread.

oh by the way my frist attempt to cash out from Stars after black friday has been declined. Followed was an email which I will paste here:

We were very pleased to receive the news today that allows US players to cash out their real money balances.

In response to this update, the Cashout Option in the PokerStars Cashier will be temporarily closed to allow us to prepare the technical solutions and formulate the plan and processes required to allow you to cash out your balance.

In the interim, any pending cashouts have been returned to your account in order to ensure players have the opportunity to cash out orderly. Please be assured, player balances are safe. We will notify all US territories players as soon as the cashier is available again.

Providing you with the facility to cash out is our top priority right now, and hopefully all US territories players will be able to cash out via the PokerStars Cashier in the near future. We apologize for the temporary delay, and sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation, as we continue working towards providing you with a solution to cash out.

Regards,

PokerStars Support


looks like we'll get out money, just don't know when

I've played on a lot of the sites pre and post Black Friday and would be happy to answer questions. I tried in the other thread and did answer a lot. I also think there were similar threads in other forums on 2p2 that are useful. I will agree that there is a lot of confusion in those threads though

The only one I haven't played on recently is Cake Network because they do not allow KY or WA residents.

Merge definitely has some good skins and seems to be the #1 choice of US players ATM. I personally had moved a lot of my play to Merge before Black Friday because of Full Tilts horrible support. The skin I chose was RPM for a few reasons. They have a sub-forum here on 2p2 at the top of the Internet Poker forum. Their support is the best in the business IMO. RPMSeth is extremely quick to reply to PM's on 2p2 or emails sent to him and RPMJon is always very helpful in Live Chat. If you check out their bonus's in the Sub-Forum you will see that they have some great bonus's. They also offer the standard 35% RB and also a 6.5% VIP Points system.

I've not played on skins like Lock Poker, but I've heard very good things about them and I believe they are widely considered to be top-notch.

The software on Merge is the best available to US residents post Black Friday IMO.

If you have questions on specific rooms or skins I'll try to help and I'm sure others will too. I know there is a lot of questions about where to play. I've also played at True Poker, Bodog, etc....

My two cents about the software FWIT since you asked:

• You can't manage the table layouts the way you could in FT -- specifically you cant create custom layouts. If you multitable, jump on & off tables, and sometimes might be playing 3 other times might be playing 10, there's no way to set up a custom preset layout to accommodate how things should be arranged accordingly.
• The "grid" option is fine I guess if you are always playing, for example, exactly 6 tables at a time, but there is only ONE way to set up the grid (like 3 columns x 2 rows), so when the # of tables changes you still have only that 6-table layout grid.
• Whether you use the grid (which, btw, only lets you set up tiled tables, not overlapping/staggered) or you're just trying to reduce the size of the tables, the text displaying stack sizes, bet amounts, & player names becomes tiny & unreadable very easily. I have a 23" monitor and it's almost impossible if I tile 4 tables in the mini view.
• With the "normal view", which does allow for better visibility when you tile tables: you lose avatars, there are NO chip stack graphics (it only displays the digits!), and imo a robust HUD becomes very hard to display w/ the small amount of screen space.
• The hand replayer barely graphical. If you want a quick review of what happened in the previous hand (unless going into HEM or PT right after it grabs the hand history), you have to read through a good deal of text.
• There's a lack of shortcuts like Sit Out next hand on all tables, or Sit Out next Big Blind, or Replay Hand in Replayer, or Display Registered in Tournaments. Guess I got spoiled at FT w/ that nice feature.
• As far as I know, you can't change the mods unless it's to one of the pre-made Carbon mods. Maybe I'm wrong on that though.
• If you sticky a tournament (a feature I like, btw) it will reset if you close the program down & restart it. Annoying.
• Also, I can't seem to de-activate the rabbit camon tourneys. I find that distracting -- and it can definitely tilt me when I have to look at how I folded a small pocket pair a hand that would have made quads by the river.
• Also, why are tourneys 10-max while cash games are 9-max? Just seems kinda weird to me.

Sorry to be a downer, TiltTheTilt, but you asked.

Do any of these sites have a good selection of SNGs? Like the Ultra Turbos on FTP?

You will never find a selection like stars and tilt again for years and years im sure...Depending on your game but there is valuable info on that thread as far as laying out all the options you have.

On Merge right now, every player at my SNG table (10-handed) is from the US (lol).

has anyone successfully cashed out from cake or merge? I dont mean the day of the blackout cashouts im saying post blackout. did you cashout say sunday or something how is that cashout working for you right now?

I just created an account at Carbon Poker and I'm working on getting myself verified for depositing. I probably wont deposit until I get some money back from Stars though because I have very little in the bank and very lots in Stars (also I want to play live in May).

As a former SNG player myself, I can say that you'll be disappointed with what they offer. Also, MTTers will be greatly disappointed if you are used to what Stars offered... the guarantees are a joke, but hey, some poker is better than no poker.

As far as the midstakes cash games it looks like theres at least a selection of tables running. Im not sure how many people are multitabling, but the site right now has a total of 8K+ players. Pretty sad, but again, some poker is better than none.

I think the interface and software looks nice. It's not perfect, and its not as good or customizable as Stars/FT, but its not ugly like Cake. If the selection of games picks up, I think I would be satisfied playing here until something better comes up. But this is just a first impression.

What do you expect? If you go in expecting SNG and MTT traffic and Guarantee's then yea you will probably be disappointed.

Why would you even think it would be remotely close to those sites?

Want to add that the traffic has almost doubled on Merge and it will continue and as it does I'm sure the guarantee's will increase. Merge is probably the best option ATM.

Hey y'all, I have been lurking these forums for a while, but this will be my first post. I was wondering now that the four major sites have been closed for U.S. players what sites people have moved to. I have a mac so the only option I saw was CarbonPoker, but so far I do not like the software. I also invested in Tableninja and have grown reliant on it to play multiple tables without constantly timing out so I have no idea what to do. Will Tableninja be developed for other sites now that Pokerstars and Fulltilt are shutdown and will not reopen to American customers in the near future?

Finally decided to deposit and of course my card got declined...has anyone had success with the prepaid cards at RPM or is just WU thats working?

I promise you that by the end of the year one of these sites is the new leader and has increased it's traffic x10.