Tag Archives: Merge Network

Top 4 Alternatives to Cake Online Poker Sites

If you were recently shut out of your online poker room on the Cake Network, here are the top 4 online poker sites that accept US-based real-money players.

  Bovada Poker
110% bonus on initial deposits between $20 and $1000!
No-download version available!
Play online poker at Bovada.lv. Play online poker games for free or download our free poker software and get to the real game. We offer the very best in poker games including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, 7 Card Stud, and more. 

  Americas Cardroom
100% bonus on initial deposits between $50 and $1000!
And we think America deserves the freedom to fund their online Poker account with ease. That’s why we’ve made playing for real money incredibly easy at Americas Cardroom. Start by downloading our free online Poker software

  OddsMaker.com Poker
100% bonus on initial deposits between $20 and $1000!
Our online poker card games test your mettle and challenge your preconceived notions of playing caliber. As a leading source of poker tournaments and rooms, Odds Maker has countless return customers

  iHoldem Poker
150% bonus on initial deposits between $25 and $500!
Bonus Code: PLAY150. At iHoldem, we are as passionate about Texas Hold’em as you are. Whatever your stakes, you will find live poker room action on iHoldem Poker’s Texas Hold’em tables 24/7. 

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USA Online Poker – Where to Play

Bovada PokerAmerica's Cardroom
OddsMaker.com PokerIntertops Poker

In the USA online poker sites that accept real-money players from the USA have become more and more scarce. In this blog post, I will tell you where you can play real-money online poker in the USA.

As I have mentioned in other blog posts on the topic of online poker in the USA, you need to be aware that there are stand-alone online poker sites and there are online poker networks. You can have an account at each stand-alone online poker site and one account on each online poker network.

Here are the stand-alone sites that deal online poker in the USA.

  • Bovada Poker – 110% bonus on initial deposits between $20 and $1000

Here are the online poker networks that deal online poker in the USA. I’ve provided a link to one of the sites on the network where you can sign up for an online poker account.

  • Yatahay Poker Network – America’s Cardroom – 100% bonus on initial deposits between $25 and $1000
  • Merge Poker Network – OddsMaker.com Poker – 100% bonus on initial deposits between $20 and $1000
  • Cake Poker Network – Intertops Poker – 110% bonus on initial deposits between $50 and $545

It’s not impossible to play online poker in the USA. You just need to know where to look!

Bovada PokerAmerica's Cardroom
OddsMaker.com PokerIntertops Poker

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Everleaf Online Poker Network Bans US Players

Days ago, Everleaf Online Poker Network banned all new sign-ups and players from the United States as well as two other counties. The move was in response to a letter issued by the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as in response to the seizure of one of Everleaf’s payment processor’s funds.

There are approximately two dozen online poker sites that are part of the Everleaf Online Poker Network. US players may experience significant delays in withdrawing their funds; Everleaf has not commented on how they are going to facilitate the withdraw of funds by their US players.

Everleaf online poker players will want to find an alternative for their online poker play. There are few online poker networks that continue to accept real-money play from US players.

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Update on US Friendly Online Poker Rooms

Online poker is a fluid, dynamic industry. Just last month, a United States Department of Justice ruling came to light which many feel has paved the way for online poker legalization and regulation in 2012.

It seems that each month — heck, sometimes each week — online poker sites come and go, or change the policy toward accepting US-based real-money players. Complicating things is the fact that there are some online poker networks that have several “skins”, or front-ends, and you’re only allowed to register at one of the skins. So, even though there are more than a dozen US-friendly online poker rooms, you can only open an account at a handful of those sites.

Here is the latest list of US-friendly online poker rooms where you’ll want to have accounts.

Name Network Bonus Code Match % Min Deposit Max Deposit Bonus Release Barred States
Bovada Poker Bovada / Bodog None 110 20 1000 For first 60 days, 5 Poker Points = $1, released at $10, $40, $100, $150, $300 and $400. None
Poker4Ever Everleaf MON500 100 10 500 Earn 20 X Bonus in PokerPoints ($1 in rake = 10 PPs) within 60 days. Bonus paid out in 10 parts. None
Americas Cardroom Yatahay DR500 100 25 1000 $1 for every 500 FPPs in first 40 days MD WA
OddsMaker.com Poker Merge None 100 20 1000 Released as $10 per 800 points earned DC KY LA MO
MD NY WA
Intertops Poker Cake None 110 50 545 Released in $5 increments based on play KY LA MD MO
NJ NY WA
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Merge Online Poker Network Reopens to United States Players

Online Poker sites on the Merge Poker Network have recently began accepting new online poker accounts from poker players in the United States. While not all online poker players are accepted, most are eligible to open an online poker account. (Online poker players from the following states/jurisdictions are still barred at Merge Poker sites: KY LA MO MD NY WA DC).

My top three online poker sites on the Merge Poker Network are:

All offer a 100% match bonus on your initial deposit, with OddsMaker matching up to $1K — the most of any Merge Poker Network site that I am aware of. In addition, OddsMaker spreads $40K a month in online poker freerolls: 7 x $200 daily free rolls, with the games varying from Pot Limit Omaha, to H.O.R.S.E. to No Limit Hold’em.

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Online Poker in the USA – Making Sense of Fees and eWallets

Since Black Friday in April 2011, online poker players in the United States have been struggling with not only where to play, but also with how to make deposits and withdrawals from their accounts in a way that minimizes the fees to conduct these transactions. Granted, medium-to-high-stakes players probably worry less about these fees, but for recreational, low-stakes players, fees make a difference.

I’ve written previously about the few online poker rooms that are still accepting new US-based real-money players. As a quick review, they are:

This is a 5 star site. Click to read more about star ratings. This site accepts US players from only 49 states. Barred states are: WA MD. Doyles Room Poker100% bonus on initial deposits between $25 and $1000!

This is a 5 star site. Click to read more about star ratings. This site accepts US players from all 50 states. Bodog Poker110% bonus on initial deposits between $20 and $1000!

This is a 5 star site. Click to read more about star ratings. This site accepts US players from only 49 states. Barred states are: KY. Cake Poker110% bonus on initial deposits between $25 and $545!

This is a 4 star site. Click to read more about star ratings. This site accepts US players from all 50 states. Poker4Ever100% bonus on initial deposits between $10 and $500!

I’ve just spent several hours running down as many details as I can about their deposit and withdrawal options, and their associated fees. It is frustrating to say the least. Often times, the information that they have on their sites is out of date, unclear, or is contradictory to information that they have published elsewhere.

So, as far as I can tell, only DoylesRoom offers online poker with no fees for certain deposit and withdrawal methods. Specifically, DoylesRoom offers no-fee Visa deposits ($20 minimum); in addition, they will credit to your account any fees incurred when depositing via Western Union or MoneyGram (both $200 minimum). On the withdrawal side,  they offer 1 free check-by-mail per month ($20 minimum), as well as debit cards ($5 monthly fee + per-load and per-use fees).

Remember the good old days of  the free (or nearly free) e-wallets like FirePay, NetTeller, eWalletXpress, EcoCard, Click2Pay, QuickTender/UseMyWallet? Me too. 🙁  The current e-wallets that are accepted by various online poker sites all have 5% or more fees by the time you perform one deposit and one withdraw. The online poker site itself does not charge any fees to use these e-wallets, but the fees to load the e-wallet and then make a withdraw are substantial.

  • BoDog Poker supports MyPaylinQ, which loads via credit cards at 7% fee, or for free via Western Union (WU). But the only payout option is WU with a $20 MyPaylinQ fee + WU fees.
  • Cake Poker supports MoneyLineWallet (MLW), which charges $4 per load from your linked checking account. However, Cake Poker cannot payout back to your MLW account. Even if they could, there are MLW payouts fees — via a check for <$1000 (the fee is $10) and via a Bank Wire for larger amounts (with a $55 fee (plus your bank may charge an incoming international wire fee)).
  • Poker4Ever supports PICCLUB, which has the same load and payout fees as MyPaylinQ.
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12 Days of Poker Freerolls

Big Bet Poker is getting into the holiday spirit of giving by hosting five online poker freerolls every other day from now through Monday, December 27, 2010. If you missed the first day of poker freerolls, get into the poker action starting tomorrow. Here is the schedule for each day of the Big Bet Poker online poker freerolls.

For 12 days in December, Big Bet Poker is running Holiday Freerolls at the following times (Big Bet Poker server time):
Scheduled Time Prize Pool
15:00 $25 Freeroll – Top 3 Paid
17:00 $10 Freeroll – Winner-Take-All
18:00 $25 Freeroll – Top 3 Paid
19:00 $50 Freeroll – Top 7 Paid
20:00 $25 Freeroll – Top 3 Paid

Real-money players are all automatically entered into 12 48-hour holiday dashes — the top ten point earners from real money play share in $1000 prize pool. $350 is the prize for the first-place finish, and there’s an additional $100 bonus awarded to any player that wins consecutive dashes (one bonus per player).

Big Bet Poker is on the Merge Poker Network, and welcomes players from all US states.

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The 4 Best Online Poker Sites for US Players

I’ve been playing poker online for several years now. Based on my experiences, feedback from others, and news reports (both good and bad), here is my list of the 4 best online poker sites for US players.

  1. Doyle’s Room – Free and easy credit card and e-wallet deposits, fast and free e-wallet withdrawals (express check withdrawals are $50), and their unique bounty tournaments set this poker room apart from the others. Doyle’s Room operates on the Cake Poker network, the 4th-largest poker network open to US players in terms of number of players. They also have a pretty good casino, too. Accepting players from 47 states (KY, WA, LA are barred), Doyle’s Room is a great choice for playing poker online. Current online poker promotion for new players: Get a 110% bonus up to $550.
  2. Full Tilt – There is always a lot of action at Full Tilt, the 2nd-largest poker network in terms of number of players. E-checks are free for depositing and withdrawing, so that’s a real bankroll saver. Also, thinking back to when I first opened an account with Full Tilt, their initial deposit bonus was generous and straightforward to clear. Current online poker promotion for new players: Get a 100% bonus up to $600.
  3. PokerStars – The granddaddy of them all, PokerStars is the largest poker room in the world — it’s about twice as big as Full Tilt. The PokerStars lobby is full-featured, yet still easy-to-use; the tabbed interface and filtering options allow you to customize its display of just the cash games, tourneys, and poker variants that you want to see. Freerolls abound at PokerStars. E-checks are free for depositing and withdrawing. Current online poker promotion for new players: Get a 100% bonus up to $600.
  4. OddsMaker.com Poker – This is one of 70+ rooms in the growing Merge Network. While I suppose that one room on the network is as good as any other, OddsMaker.com also has a sportsbook, racebook, and casino, which is convenient if you like to bet sports, play table games, and win at some video poker. Their initial signup offer is simpler than it sounds: $10 rake = 800 VIP points = $10 free money released to real money account. Current online poker promotion for new players: Get a 100% bonus up to $1000 + 14 days of entries into a daily $500 freeroll.
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Backgammon Cash Games

Merge Poker Rooms offer the easiest way that I know of to play Backgammon cash games — both head-to-head cash games and cash tourneys. Every time that I have played, I’ve found several dozen — at times a hundred or more — players playing/waiting for a game.

The thing that I liked most is the rule variants that are offered around doubling, Jacoby, Crawford, beavers, and others. I’m sure that you’ll be able to find an opponent at the variety of backgammon that you are most experienced with.

Read more about all the rules of the backgammon games at a leading Merge Poker Room, OddsMaker Poker. The initial deposit bonus at OddsMaker Poker can be earned by playing backgammon, and the 5% maximum backgammon rake is more than reasonable.

Merge Poker Rooms accept players from all 50 states!

This is a 4 star site. Click to read more about star ratings. This site accepts US players from all 50 states. OddsMaker.com Poker
100% bonus on initial deposits between $20 and $1000!
Our online poker card games test your mettle and challenge your preconceived notions of playing caliber. As a leading source of poker tournaments and rooms, Odds Maker has countless return customers who depend on our betting systems to keep their sk …[Full Description]
Languages: English Currencies: USD - United States Dollars are accepted.

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