Online Poker: Déjà Vu All Over Again

In what seems to be a recurring trend, it was announced that Merge Network will temporarily stop new US players from joining the following poker sites: Carbon Poker, Lock Poker, RPM Poker, Felt Stars Poker, and Hero Poker. No new accounts will be accepted after June 3. You may recall Black Friday, wherein several major US poker sites were shut down by the FBI and the Justice Department. According to Merge Network, the reason for this latest temporary action is to enable their poker sites to implement new measures for payment processing. And that's the crux of the matter. So for now, at least, existing players can still play at Merge Network Poker sites, and new US players are once again left out in the cold. What poker sites are left? Bodog(now Bovada) and UWIN Poker will remain; and the rest including Yatahay, Cake Network, and Everleaf Gaming Network (the smaller networks) are still in operation and will most likely pick up the slack. But that's not to say that at some future date, they too will be affected as well.

Online Poker's Future Looks Bleak

Unless and until the UIGEA Law is repealed, we will continue to see online poker sites for US players and yes, even, Online Casinos for US Players - retreat from the restrictions placed upon them as a result of this ambiguous law.