Merge Gaming Network puts brakes on accepting new US players

The Merge Gaming Network has decided to put the brakes on accepting any new US players. Various sources are reporting the moratorium will last anywhere from one to three months. Merge has been the biggest beneficiary of the post-Black Friday exit of the major poker networks from the US market, but it now appears that Merge is experiencing some major growing pains.

Holdempokerchat.com claims the recent implosion of payment processor QuickTender/Use My Wallet has left Merge reliant on credit cards, with some Merge skins reporting a mere 20% success rate in processing transactions. However, Carbon Poker’s success rate may be as high as 70%, leaving some skins suspecting Merge is playing favorites. As every remaining US-facing company is undergoing similar eCom restrictions, this ‘picking winners and losers’ scenario could have been predicted (and was predicted, by a certain someone we know).

Merge is rumored to be owned by Sportsbook.com, which recently switched its domain to Sportsbook.com.au. While most of the other .com’s have focused on acquiring .eu domains, Sportsbook.com opted for an Australian domain. Is this a less than subtle confirmation of what the industry has suspected for a long time – that the powers behind Sportsbook.com and Sportingbet.com are one and the same?

Sportingbet PLC just made a significant bid to acquire Australian bookies Centrebet. Perhaps some Centrebet staffers are already being told to clear out to make room for the influx of Sportsbook.com’s former Costa Rica staff. But be sure to save a corner office for Sportsbook.whatever CEO/COO/WTF Aaron Gould. Rumor has it that’s the only space into which he can fit his ears — or his swelled head.