In the wake of yesterday’s government action against True Poker and Doyle’s Room, which included taking their web addresses and blocking them from serving US players, the Merge Poker Network made an important announcement today.
Merge announced today that they will no longer be accepting new players from Maryland, Louisiana, Missouri and the District of Columbia. New York State was banned a few days ago as well. Players from all states who already have accounts will continue to be able to play on Merge Network for real money. Players from these named states will just not be able to sign up new accounts.
The Merge Network is one of the largest poker networks serving Americans at the moment and includes LockPoker, Carbon Poker, RPM Poker, as well as many other skins.
Though Merge hasn’t released a public statement saying the reason for the sign up ban, it is widely known that those four states have been tough on internet poker. With each state having vastly different state laws in regards to online poker, Merge’s move is likely designed to make sure their online poker operations don’t run afoul of the law and can continue to operate smoothly.
On a similar note, Black Chip Poker, one of the skins on Merge, will also no longer be accepting deposits or real money cash play from players in France. In the mean time, all French players will continue to be able to access their accounts, their funds, and make withdrawals.
Today’s announcement from Merge is unfortunate for those players living in the effected states, but hopefully Merge’s proactive approach is a positive sign for both their poker network and for online poker as a whole.