The funds are safe and the withdrawals have been pretty quick as of late. But considering there are probably less withdrawals, that end of it has probably become easier for them. Merge isn't done by any means, it's just that they screw the players in almost any way that they can think of. I think that WPN is a much better network in many ways, but it's player pool is probably less than half that of Merge's. Currently all of the US sites have their weaknesses. Merge, though, is the only US site that so severely disrespects its players.

With everyone having been paid their withdrawal requests since Carbon's inception, I guess that could constitute grounds for questioning the safety of funds. As to the low player volume, I can only speak to the mtt end. My unofficial monitoring of OPR indicates the pool of players increased from 18,000- 19,000 yearly at the beginning of April, to > 31,000 as of today. Guess one could say the player pool has significantly decreased in the last 6 months. They'd be lying though. Just sayin...

If WPN improved the software and got more traffic it would be the nuts U.S. site, on par with Bovada, but without anon tables.

100% AGREE.

Here's an accurate description of my first withdrawal of many to come based on a recent big heater on the site:

Oct. 3: Requested Withdrawal $2,500
Oct. 9: Check Processed/Fedex Tracking # sent.....(Check #2 requested $2,500)
Oct. 13: Check received
Oct. 14: Check taken to Bank of America, check must clear via "collections".
Oct. 15: Told Carbon my bank charges $30 fee for collections, they refunded $40 back into my acct.
Oct. 20: Check #2 Processed & sent...Check #3 requested for $2,500.
Oct. 28: Check still has not cleared collections and has not reached my account yet....but I just received my 2nd check via FedEx.


This process is UBER TILTING

It's nice to hear that US players are getting paid but the whole process of checks, waiting for collection, max withdrawal of 2500$ sounds very weird to me.
How do you know that the funds are safe on Carbon? E.g. Pokerstars by its own accord or the French sites by legal obligation keep all the player funds completely separated from operating funds. Is that the case with Carbon? If so is there something like an official source for that?
How do you explain the withdrawal delays or the very complicated withdrawal system?

And does anybody know how they got that absolutely crazy ripoff idea of the uncapped 5% withdrawal fee? Tbh couldn't believe it when I first saw it. Before they had the 40$ fee for the second withdrawal in a month but apparently that wasn't enough...

Once I get the majority of this money off Carbon, I will continue to play because these MTTs are really soft IMO. This coming from a guy (myself) that doesn't even think I'm a great online player. I think I'm pretty average, but the only thing I will do going forward is keep the bare minimum on the site and just use my credit card for deposits. Anyone that is making a decent profit on this site should NOT have over 4-5,000 in their accounts.

The 5% skrill withdrawal fee is very criminal though. But hey, until players boycott Merge, they will do whatever they feel like.

Ever see the movie Runner-Runner?? Ben Affleck's character is probably very similar to that of all these CEO's of these online poker sites..with the exception of throwing hustlers into alligator river pits lol.

I have never had a check sent to collections in 7 years, so can't speak to that. I don't work for Carbon, so don't know if funds are kept separate from operating expenses. As I stated before, no reported instances of a withdrawal requested and not paid. Good enough for me. My 15 or so withdrawals have all been posted in the Merge withdrawal thread. The system is the same as I encountered at Pokerstars. Requested a withdrawal. Withdrawal processed. Check sent. Deposited in bank same day received. Funds available 1-3 days later. Very complicated. Still just sayin...

Try opening an account at another large regional or national bank. Just a suggestion. And if collections is mentioned, point out that check is in U.S. dollars.

yeah, if you're waiting for your checks to go through collections you're doing it wrong. when they say it needs to go to collections, ask for your check back.

Someone told me they have been waiting 10 days for their withdraw to be processed from carbon. Can anyone else confirm that it is taking this long for payouts?

Mine took 14 days to process and they said they sent it. Two weeks later no check, so been right at a month for me with nothing yet.

Do you plan on saying how one should do it right?

It takes 6-14 days to "Process" the check, another 2 days to ship it via FedEx Express w/ a tracking #, then anywhere between 3-5 business days to arrive at your door.

3 different bank reps all told me it must go through collections since the check is foreign and it came from the north.

don't post bank names

delaxthedonk relayed good advice in the Deposit/Withdrawal thread about what to do when your bank tries to send your check to collections. read that, but it pretty much comes down to (politely) telling the bank "no", and taking the check to either another branch, hopefully one with more competent employees, or to another bank if that doesn't work.

the only problem i've encountered when depositing is the teller not inputting the tracking number correctly, as these checks have a 1 digit difference than the checks they deal with all day. point that out, the fact that its in USD, and there shouldn't be a reason your bank makes you wait >1month to get your money.

also BOANGTAO's wait is definitely out of the ordinary. lately its been 1-14 days to have a withdrawal request processed, the next day you get a tracking number, and the day after that you receive the check

The overwhelming majority of Carbon's player base lives and plays in the US and under the UIGEA it is illegal for banks operating in the US to process deposits and withdrawals. In order for funds to flow to/from players and the network, they have to go through third parties, and in amounts small enough to not attract unwanted attention from regulators and law enforcement.

We have no way of knowing if the funds are safe and segregated. We in the US are all forced to take a leap of faith because unlike you, we don't have good alternatives. Carbon has an excellent track record of paying out, which is all we can really bank on.

It's pretty unusual for companies, even ones who operate completely legally, to give honest explanations for their business decisions. And since Carbon nixed its customer reps, we don't even have a party line here to dissect; all we can do is speculate. My guess is that when you look at this in the context of all the other changes made in the course of the last 12-18 months, this is just another way they are attempting to promote a recreational-heavy ecosystem of net depositors and discourage net withdrawers from doing a lot of business on the network, and also a way of mitigating the negative impact that withdrawals from the network have on their balance sheet.

Sent from my SM-G900V using 2+2 Forums

There are quite a few highly paid gaming attorneys that would find fault with your statement here. Particularly on the withdrawals side. Not that it makes a hell of a lot of difference if the bank/managers/tellers are too scared to take your checks, but it is a point of distinction. The law is not interpretable in only one black and white way according to a number of sources I've spoken with.

--
Kahn

Not sure about right now but I cashed out two months ago and had the check in my hand within 6 days of requesting the cashout.

i dont doubt this at all. im from a small town "where everybody knows your name," (cmon now, sing it in that Cheers rhythm), the bank where i make all of my poker check deposits, the employees know where those checks come from and they have cashed them for a decade #sickbrag

Of course they would - they have to earn their high pay! Otherwise they would be pretty crappy gaming attorneys...

So the Second check I received was for $2,425.07 even though i requested $2,500.

- However, this check instantly deposited into my bank by giving it to the teller in person.
- This check was also from "the north" but it had a seal, and it looked way more legit than the 1st check i received from them.
- Hopefully all my future checks come in this format so it doesn't have to go through collections.
- The other thing i didn't realize was that after your first withdrawal, they charge you a 3% processing fee :/. LAME

As I posted in the Merge Deposit/Withdrawal Thread, for the last several months, checks have been taking 2-3 weeks on avg. That means when a batch is sent out, those that requested right before a batch was processed, can get their checks in a matter of days. Those that requested right after a batch was processed may take ~ 3 weeks. Hope that helps.

I still don't understand why online poker sites don't allow bitcoin withdrawals and deposits.