Merge Network creates anonymous Sit n Go registration across all games, and PokerHost set to defect to the Equity Poker Network (EPN) in the next few weeks.
If you get too sharp you are going to end up getting cut.
That was the line handed to me during railway trade union negotiations several years ago, and it reminds me of the current world of professional online poker players.
The instructional books, videos, software, and one to one coaching has turned the game on its head, with professional players improving at such a rapid rate that they have been driving the recreational players out of the game in droves.
It’s not a secret that the online poker rooms have woken up to this fact. After all 2014 is the year of the recreational poker player as more and more sites tweak their offerings to welcome back the fish.
The latest online entity to join the party is the US-facing Merge Gaming Network who has taken steps to make all of their sit n go registrations completely anonymous. Screen names are now hidden rendering any game selection software obsolete, and even the playing feel a little for the recreational players in the game.
Instead of learning how to identify weaker players before the action has even begun, players will now have to adapt on the fly, which makes for a much better game for the recreational players. Something that the likes of Bodog, and their Recreational Player Model has been telling people for years.
PokerHost Set to Leave Merge
One pool of players who won’t have their SNG action affected by the new changes is from PokerHost.
The US-facing affiliate Professional Rakeback has broken the news that the Merge Gaming skin is about to say bon voyage and take an estimated 10-20% of Merge players over to the new, up and coming, Equity Poker Network (EPN).
PokerHost has fallen out with its landlord a number of times, more notably over the network’s decision to move to the Jazette Cashier option, and issues over player pool liquidity after PokerHost players were unable to compete in the recent Carbon Online Poker Series.
The EPN launched in Sep 2013 and the network has grown steadily and boasts six poker rooms.
It’s believed the move will take place in the next fortnight.
