If the network model seems confusing, just think of it this way: Each individual skin –  like Carbon Poker –  is a door leading to a poker room.  Each door can be branded in any way imaginable, and the area leading up to the door can also be branded and customized. 

Behind each door, however, is the same poker room.  Make sense?

Ok, it makes sense now.  But why does it matter to you?  Well, each skin may lead to the same poker room, but the bonuses and promotions they offer are not so identical.  As anyone who plays online poker real money games will tell you, promotions are a huge part of a serious player’s bottom line.  Since you are allowed to have multiple accounts on the Merge Network, shopping around for the best skin isn’t a bad idea. 

Below are a few of the premier Merge skins that you might want to consider if you’re planning on moving away from Carbon Poker:

Lock Poker:  With a large stable of online pros and additional games beyond poker, Lock is a popular choice for players looking for an additional account on the Merge platform.  Their VIP program is similar, and you’ll find some unique bonuses like a higher deposit bonus and other goodies.

Aced Poker: A relatively new brand on the Merge Network, Aced is gaining attention for great customer support and innovative promotions.  You’ll also get access to additional gaming products playing at Aced.

RPM Poker:  Known primarily by high-volume players, RPM offers good value through their VIP program, high-level customer support and serious bonuses for high-volume players.

Grab a bonus and play poker

To help you get started, you will find that there is a rather healthy PKR Poker bonus on offer for players. Even though the PKR site manages to stand out from the crowd with its 3D graphics and interactive style of play, players still want to know if they enjoy a site. Some people may not like the graphic intensive game play on the site and may prefer a more basic looking game of online poker. The beauty of the online poker industry is that there is something for everyone but the PKR site definitely manages to stand apart from its rivals.

It is only natural that some online poker players may think that PKR are trying to use style over substance to impress fans but this is certainly not the case. A quick read of any PKR Poker review will inform people that there is a high quality of games on offer from the site. The game play is smooth, aided by the download option, and if you enjoy the interactive elements of poker, you will definitely be in your element here. Being able to influence the outcome of a poker hand or event by getting into the mind of your opponent is a great feeling and some players excel at this more than others.

Play poker the way you want

These players will definitely get a kick from the PKR site but it is hoped that there will be something for everyone on the site. The good thing about the computer graphics is that you can still shut out most of what is happening on screen and purely focus on the cards. For some players, this is exactly how they will approach a poker game in real life and this online poker game will appeal to all the different personalities of poker players.

Being able to make the most of your natural playing style is the next big thing for online poker sites and this site is a step ahead of the rest. There are still some things on the PKR site that will not please everyone but it is fair to say that the perfect poker site is yet to be created and in all likelihood, it never will be created. However, the PKR site is a perfect example of how poker sites are changing and will give a good indication of what is to come in the next wave of online poker sites. With great graphics and gameplay, this is a site that should appeal to all poker lovers.

A lot of that has to do with the illustrious talent that it attracted in the past. PokerRoom has always been viewed as one of the first places that allow a person to play poker, and as such, you can expect for there to be much in the way of staunch competition. And as always, if you’re not particularly impressive when it comes to poker, there are some tournaments that are perfectly able to suit your needs, too. If you happen to not be very familiar with PokerRoom, you’ll be happy to know that they do possess a plethora of different types of tournaments, too.

It’s always good to have the power of choice when it comes to playing poker, and even after a short online poker playing career, there are certain types of tournaments that you expect a proficient poker playing website to have. If you happen to be of the more discerning types, you won’t find that PokerRoom lacks. In addition to their FreeRolls, PokerRoom also boasts, Turbo, Cannonball, Guaranteed, and Rebuy tournaments. In addition to these popular tournaments, there are also restricted tournaments for those people who have proven themselves. So, it’s safe to assume that PokerRoom definitely have you covered.

If you happen to be looking for tournament play, giving PokerRoom a shot is a good idea. They have the support and knowledge of what makes a poker site run well. In addition to that, they have some extras that you’re not specifically expecting, such as their home poker game that allows you to easily set up your own tournaments with your friends. And for a lot of people, those are the type of things that make seasoned professionals come back for more.

The first is a small but valuable reload bonus that Carbon Poker is offering players –  10% with a maximum of $30 for the total bonus.  Use the code FRESHSTART when making the deposit in order to receive the bonus, and be sure to check all of the terms in the cashier before deciding to deposit –  the clearance rate and other restrictions may impact your decision to do so.

The second is far more significant: A major overhaul to the VIP system at Carbon Poker.  When Carbon Poker phased out rakeback in favor of the internal VIP system, players noticed that the VIP system generally offered a worse value at the bottom tiers and only a slightly better value at the higher tiers.  Now that’s changed, with Carbon offering significantly more value at the top tiers of the program.

Now the top tier awards a 45% base cashback rate to players, along with the ability to exchange points for cash at the rate of $50 for every 5,000 points.  Additionally, Carbon has added a super-tier for those who earn over 150,000 points in the three months following the month where they first qualify for the top tier.  Members who hit this tier will get a cash bonus, private training with a Drag The Bar coach and access to the new VIP concierge service provided by Carbon Poker.

Big changes are afoot on the Merge Network, and Carbon Poker is leading the way.  Look for more and more upgrades to their rewards programs as Carbon seeks to expand their player base in the year ahead.

The software powers the site

This is why more and more poker players are taking an interest in the software that is used to power a poker site and this is why Merge Poker Software is the natural choice for many players. The first impression is often vital for players when examining a new poker site which means that a site has to look good. If it doesn’t look good, many poker players will simply move onto another site that is more appealing to their idea of aesthetics.

The game play options will always be important but having crisp and attractive graphics can make all the difference for players when they are looking for a poker site. A poor looking poker site will not encourage confidence in a player and in the online community, confidence is vital. A site that looks bad or performs poorly will struggle to attract players in the long term and this is why the right choice of software is crucial for poker sites. This is why Merge Poker is found behind many of the best sites in the business.

Merge Poker Software is available to all

The fact that Merge Poker Software is also available for Mac computers is a huge bonus for some players. Many software providers are still lagging behind; requiring Mac users to use an emulator to run their software but this is not an issue with Merge. All of which means that the major focus about Merge Software can fall on the game play, which is always an important factor for any poker player. Having swift, smooth and reliable games that conform to all of the rules of poker may not be too much to ask for but if a site cannot deliver these, it will be of no use to a poker player. This is why the software provided by Merge is respected in the industry and keeps players coming back for more.

In the current climate, poker sites have to be seen to be offering more and this means that software has to include side games as well. There may be casino sites offering more games online but players want everything in one place and if a poker site can provide everything, it is ideal for players. Be sure to know that the Merge Poker Software solution can satisfy every gaming need from poker.

First off, is the move legitimate?  When people see their browser redirecting them to a site other than the one they typed in or clicked on, many see a red flag.  Has their browser or the site been hijacked?  In this case, the answer is no –  Carbon Poker has officially chosen to move their permanent home on the Internet from CarbonPoker.com to CarbonPoker.ag.

So, with that out of the way, what was the motivation for the change?  The dot-com domain is the gold standard of web addresses, so why would anyone voluntarily switch from dot-com to an obscure country code domain like dot-ag?  What does dot-ag even stand for?

The dot-ag extension signifies a domain that is reserved for and controlled by Antigua & Barbuda.  The reason Carbon has chosen that TLD for their website has a lot to do with recent legal events in the United States.  Back in April of 2011, the US filed charges against PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker and, as part of that action, temporarily seized the dot-com domains of the companies. 

Carbon was not named in that, or any, action, but moved to the dot-ag as a precaution against over-reliance on a domain that could be taken away from them without their permission or prior notice.

Interested in learning more about Carbon Poker?  Read a Carbon Poker review from another site, or browse our articles for more information about the past and present of this online poker room.

Bodog Poker is still available to players from the US, but Bodog will be splitting its poker room into two parts come January, leaving North American players in one room and the other players in another.  While it might not impact the value players receive, it still creates an uncertainty that might not be attractive to some players.

The Everleaf Network still has a number of rooms that accept US players, but the traffic at the network –  along with the game selection –  is a little thin.  Everleaf sections off tables that US players can access, meaning that US players are basically playing against other players from the US, a situation that many players won’t find ideal.  That downside is offset somewhat by the generous rakeback rates available to players.

The final major choice for US players is the Merge Network.  There are dozens of rooms to choose form on the network, but players would be wise to choose one of the main rooms like Carbon Poker (get a Carbon Poker Bonus Code).  With all of the issues players have had to face over the last year, reducing risk should be at the top of any player’s priority list.

Is it time for US players to simply give up the ghost?  Many serious players have chosen to relocate, and if that option is out of reach, players might want to seriously consider a career change or a move to live poker while the situation in the US gets sorted out.  While it may be months, maybe even years, before online poker comes back with full force to the US, it might be a wait that at this point is simply the safest bet.

Carbon is the flagship room of the Merge Poker Network.  If you already have an account on the Merge network, you may not be able to create an account at Carbon Poker.  Instead, give these online poker reviews a read to see if you can find an alternate room that suits your preferences.

If you’re not familiar with the Carbon Poker software, it provides a number of unique features and advantages over other poker software clients.  One notable feature: Rabbit hunting, where you can choose to run out the rest of the cards after folding.  You can also choose to “deal it twice” once all players in the hand are all in –  a common feature of High Stakes Poker –  and have two sets of cards dealt for the remaining streets, once set for each half of the pot.

Carbon also boasts one of the best resizable tables functions in all of online poker.  All graphics are rendered in vectors, meaning that every aspect of the table remains as sharp at the minimum size as it does at the maximum size.  Carbon also offers a “mini-table” feature that allows you to view the most important aspects of the table –  pot size, actions and stack sizes –  at normal size while shrinking all other elements to the bare minimums, making playing multiple tables a breeze even on small monitors.

There are some negatives: Carbon Poker is not on the “online poker that accepts PayPal” list and, in fact, has limited deposit and withdrawal options for some countries.  The room also no longer offers flat rakeback, instead providing tiered rakeback via the Carbon Poker VIP program.  Those drawbacks aside, poker players from around the world are still no doubt quite happy to learn that Carbon Poker is once again accepting their business.

Is Carbon Poker the right room for you?  Check out an excellent Carbon Poker review for an in-depth look at the room, but a brief survey of what Carbon Poker has to offer can be found below.

Bonuses:  Carbon offers a great slate of promotions and bonuses, especially for higher-volume players.  At the heart of the value Carbon offers is their VIP program, which rewards players with up to 47% rakeback at the highest tiers.  The program works like most VIP schemes –  play poker, earn points, move up tiers and see your rewards escalate as you climb your way to the top of the VIP ladder. 

In addition to the VIP program, Carbon offers monthly reload bonuses and a variety of smaller promotions that change from month to month.

Game Selection:  Players interested in low to medium limits will not lack for games on Carbon Poker.  The only area where game selection starts to suffer is when you move into the higher limits across all games.  Higher limit games do run sporadically, but this isn’t the PokerStars lobby –  you’ll have to do some waiting if you’re looking for high stakes, and possibly a lot of waiting.

Banking:  A number of options for deposit and withdrawal, but questions still remain about the speed of cash outs, especially to some countries where cashing out is limited to check.  It remains to be seen if Carbon will be able to handle an influx of new players and the processing challenges that comes with such an influx.

Clearly, Carbon Poker is a room worth giving a second look.  If you weren’t able to sign up over the past few weeks, now just might be the perfect time.

If you’re not familiar with what rake can do to a bankroll –  and a poker room –  consider this example.  The typical rake taken from a hand of 3/6 Limit Holdem is probably somewhere around .50.  Let’s take a hypothetical room that only offers 3/6 LHE and runs a paltry 10 tables a day.  Let’s say each table deals 50 hands an hour –  also a very low number –  resulting in about 12,000 hands a day.

Now on to the players.  Let’s say our magic room only has 10 players and they all start with bankrolls of $10,000 –  very healthy bankrolls for 3/6 LHE.  No one deposits or withdraws from the room.  Guess how long until the rake takes every dollar of that money, regardless of who wins and who loses? 

Sixteen days.  Less than a month.  That’s the power of the rake.  It’s like a winning player who always wins and never gives you anything back, and it’s the reason why online poker rooms offer so many deposit bonuses –  they need a steady flow of cash in because the rake is taking so much money off of the table.

What can you do?  The best thing is to pay as little rake as you can upfront by doing research on poker sites with low rake.  All credible rooms publish their rake rates somewhere on their site, although you might have to click a bit to find it.  That’s a great first step to beating the best player at any poker table –  the rake.