LOL, I guess we all need to move to another country to get paid by Merge in somewhat a timely manner? Plus the bad beat jackpot must have been many, many months ago since Merge has not offered this for sometime now? If they won this money on Bovada they would have gotten these funds without issue, not have to move to another country in order to collect. A little slow is to say the least, I just read the Carbon payout thread and the rep there is appologizing for how slow USA checks are, saying has been over 8 weeks. Many players are saying 10-11 weeks! That is just plain dumb and sites like Bovada and Winning Poker Network are the proof that payouts in the USA can be fast. With Bovada you get a check in a week. Western Union in 1-2 days in your hands. Why in the world would someone wait 10+ weeks for a check from Merge when there are two better options. The only reason I can see is they have old money on the site, other than that you are crazy to deposit there. I feel bad for people with money on Merge or Lock, but to encourage other players to deposit there is flat out wrong, why bring more players there to get their winnings tied up for months and very likely lose it at some point. You can make your joke about unknown oppenents on Bovada but I do very well there so I have no complaints from me, plus the fact that I actually get paid is the best comment I can make about them.

what if ur hourly is 3x greater on merge than bovada because u can compete in rakeraces, play more than 4 sngs at a time, compete in a sng lb and mtt lb, many other promotions, 35% immediate rakeback to top tier, 70% rakeback 12 hours each week, starting july 1st a potential 105% immediate rakeback for the early bird promo; during happy hours (12 hours a week), early bird otherwise will grant an immediate 70% rakeback if u r one of the first few in a sng; again assuming u r top tier (top two for 6 and top 3 for 9), software is infinite times better, u can wait to get paid #pocketsfull errr, and then u stack withdrawals. First one comes 9 weeks (bummer) next few roll in every two weeks like the welfare checks on the 1st and the 15th.

not to mention well i dunno, i have no experience with it, but lol anonymous tables. Anonymous in poker. lolz. and then the list pry goes on like no rakeback at bovada or promotions. as i said earlier though, may deposit there next.

The thing is you cannot get as many games. The SNG is completely dead on Merge, nothing more than $10 $20 games even go off, so playing more than 4 at a time maybe in the micro stakes? I play SNG $50 and up, sometimes will hit games in the $30 range if I have to go down to get enough games in. On Bovada I get 30 to 40 usually $50-$215 SNG games per day. On Merge if you could get one of those stake games a day going you would be lucky. Plus the question you have to ask yourselves, why can Bovada and Winning Poker pay players from the USA in days and it takes Merge months. There is only one answer here, Bovada and Winning have the player funds available, Merge does not. There is NO reasonable arguement that can explain this. And as far as anonymous poker players, I find they play worse I guess since you cannot track who they are they are more willing to call with bad hands. As far as software I have always considered Merge one of the best, but I am more concerned about getting paid than some super slick software. The fact is I could afford to wait 8+ weeks for a check, but why would I when there are better options. Plus, in 8 weeks who knows if Merge is even still online, if they are so strong what is the reason they cannot pay like any of the other sites I name here? I would love to play on Merge if they paid players in a reasonable time frame, but the games are starting to show the effects of slow payouts, no SNG games at mid to high stakes, when they used to be the best USA option. To entice new players to deposit on Merge or Revolution for that matter is flat out wrong until they prove they are not sinking, to do this they need to pay as quickly as their competitors, there is no valid reason they cannot unless they are truly cash poor.

out of bodog, revolution, merge, winning..... where should i deposit?

If you are concerned about getting paid out in a reasonable amount of time, Bovada and Winning are the only two options. Read the Merge Carbon thread and you will see a check payout is taking 10-11 weeks right now and Lock / Revolution is 6 months lol.

Bovada has the most SNG games daily for any USA facing site and lots of mtt tournaments and cash games.

Winnning has good cash games and a good amount of mtt as well. I am hoping that the SNG picks up soon as that is my main games, but right now they are dead if you want to play mid to high stakes.

Both payout fast, Western Union within a couple days and you can get checks in hand in a week or so.

Merge has always had nice software but Bovada is not far behind, and the fact that you will not find complaints about payouts says the most.

Isn't bovada's software notoriously bad? I don't like it.

are there any sites that serve US players that have a zoom/speed/fast poker?

You are an over the top fanboy. Pretty much to the point I would call you a nut hugger but I wont. Traffic has plummeted and the change in rake is ridiculous.

Keep waving the flag.

Yes but no US facing site's software is anything to write home about. It is what it is with the current climate.

No

I wanted to join Bovada but they don't allow people from New York? Will that change? Or should I just look somewhere else?

Same here, I'm all sit n goes. I mostly play 9 tables, and head ups. Is it really dead? Because that's the only place I can join that pays out in a reasonable time. Because I can't play at Bovada if I live in New York for some reason.

Also what sites have the most fish? I heard Bovada has the most, but that's not an option. Any other sites that have a lot?

I had registered for Bovada a long time ago.. I think it may have been Bodog at the time. I was a bit naive and put in my real phone number (THey still require a phone number now.)

Since they, I STILL get phone calls from vegas with guys who address me by my real name to try and get me to put down money for sports bets and such.

I have NO interest in sports betting and just want to play poker... When you register for Bovada.. should you put your real information in including phone number? I dont wanna get bothered by all of the sports bets calls again...

bovada is certainly soft, then pry revolution, and then pry merge - in that order for softness of sngs IMO

I've never received any calls like this and they've had my number since 2004ish.

Intertops sucks these days. I play PL08 and with traffic down and this segregation BS I can barely get a game many days.

great post

If someone can help me out i live i Cali and wanted to play online. I have a Mac computer and used to play on Bovada but it wont let me log in. Any suggestions on other sites.

I am just wondering why bovada doesnt allow more than 4 tables? what benefit or importance is that to them?

Which are the best sites to play poker on a Mac

mac comparable sites are as follows:
bovada
lock
carbon
Betonline
sportsbook

i think these are the only ones out there but I am a windows user i dont know if its changed. Simple google search did the trick

It's part of numerous steps they've taken to try to make the game more fish-friendly - anonymous tables, no rakeback, etc. For better or worse, they don't want 16-tabling HUD-using rakeback pros.

For NYers, I contacted carbon support last night. I made my address somewhere bogus in Oklahoma, told them I had moved to NY, if I deposited would I have any problems cashing out. They said there wouldn't be problem, just obviously have to verify documents.

lol i doubt that

Ok. Lets say, while traveling, your account was disabled because of your location. Is there anyway around this?

My account was just shut down because I used blackchip in MD. I didn't even see listed on their site that it was banned and this thread listed it as accepted... Luckily I didn't have any money on the site, otherwise I might have sued them.

You account was just shut down, but you would have sued them? Lawyers must love you!

And no, we aren't here to help you circumvent poker sites' T&C's.

im pretty sure it is illegal to bet on sports over the phone, believe thats the federal wire act, lol