Online poker players located in Delaware and New Jersey have posted in several online poker forums that the Merge Poker Network has been cancelling accounts of poker players based in these two US states.
Several important online poker skins, including Carbon Poker, form part of the Merge Poker Network.
When Chris Grove of OnlinePokerReport.com contacted customer care at Carbon Poker, they said,
Regrettably, we no longer offer online gaming services to members in New Jersey and Delaware. This decision was made after much consideration.
Customer support at Carbon Poker also confirmed that Merge is not just refusing access to new players, but also deleting the accounts of existing players.
The new policy applies to most of the skins on the Merge Poker Network. Online poker players have posted on TwoPlusTwo and Poker.org forums that they were informed that their accounts had been “suspended” when they tried to log into their accounts on Merge poker rooms. The players then contacted customer care and were informed that the poker room has “banned” their accounts “as per restrictions” set in their state.
A regular poster on TwoPlusTwo MR_UNOWEN also related a similar experience. He posted:
I just emailed them, though; and I was told I was no longer eligible to play although I did a bit this morning. Yeah, though, it would seem just a matter of cashing out now … I just received an email stating that they initiated a manual withdraw for me which has a processing time of 3 – 8 weeks. Gg, Carbon!
Another TwoPlusTwo poster, who resides in Delaware, said that he had a similar experience. As previously mentioned, this policy does not apply to a few Merge sites. According to a New Jersey player who has an account at PokerHost, customer care at PokerHost had specifically informed him that the online poker room will continue to welcome players from New Jersey and Delaware. Although PokerHost is one of the skins on the Merge Poker Network, it functions on a different payment processing platform.
Why would certain Merge sites ban Delaware and New Jersey players? The two states had legalized and regulated online poker within their borders for several reasons. One of these reasons was to protect residents from illegal and unregulated online gambling sites. But this hardly appears to be the reason Merge poker rooms decided to cancel NJ and Delaware accounts.
The real reason appears to be the difficulty associated with processing payments.
