Sportsbook.ag / Merge Network steals $4,000 from me

I wanted to preface this posting by stating I will include all email communication between myself and the sportsbook.ag /Merge Gaming Network support and will tell the story to the best of my memory of a big win I had vs. a player which resulted in the network confiscating approximately $4,000 of my funds.

On October 10th 2017 in the time range of 3 A.M. I was exhausted and was returning from the bathroom and was about to close all poker games. The games on this night were very slow and I played a small amount of hands. As I was closing the window I noticed a player had sat at the 15-30 limit hold em table I had occupied. I decide to play and if he was close to my skill I was off to sleep because I had work in the late morning.

After we played in the range of 5 to 15 hands I knew I had a large advantage on this player. As the game went along this player was often trying to bluff me with 2 to 3 bets and sometimes 4 with very weak hands on the turn and the river. I was able to get full value and then some often times when I was ahead but there were also times where he would jam in 3-4 bets with nothing and he would suck out on me and get more value on the river for extra bets which is standard vs a lunatic player

The opening 150 to 200 hands I won at a super high rate netting about $3000 in profit. This guy was so psycho that my plan was to play tight pre and chop him up post when I was more than likely to have big leads in the hands with strong pairs and 2 pairs. The entire game including the posting below took place over roughly 800 hands but I do not have the exact number.

At some point in the game he took a break and I took a break as well to get food and water. When I returned to resume the play I had timed out and he was not at the table anymore. I decided to take an open seat and see if he returned and a few minutes later he did. I quickly won another 600 from him and he reloaded again. At some points later he ran hot and I ran cold and he went on some $1500 runs and we were stuck at me being ahead $2000 for a the majority of the game and eventually when I caught some cards his style of playing aggressive imploded and I went on a jet to get ahead $4000 at which time he sat out and we both quit. He still had more chips left when the game ended and I did not break him. The entire game lasted 4 to 5 hours and I was extremely tired so I called into work. I woke up 7 hours later and at some point while checking my email I received the following from the sportsbook.ag fraud team.



Hi JJ9917,

We notice you performed a willing transfer of funds from player "pocketpairstacked". Therefore, we require you to explain the nature of your relationship with this customer and why you folded hand 88292156-506 by responding to this e-mail.

In addition we need you to please explain your relationship with player poncho

Until a response is received we have inactivated your poker account.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Best Regards,

Daniel
Fraud Team
Merge Gaming Network





After I read this email the first thing that crept to my brain was where is the hand they are talking about. There was no hand included or attached to the email. The second thing I thought was why would I pay this much rake to the house and play for 5 hours if I was taking a chip dump transfer. That would be extremely stupid and with Crypto cashouts like Bitcoin being the new thing and available at lightning speeds why would I ask the guy to dump chips to me over a long rakefest that lasts 5 hours. The bottom line is this guy was just a massive fish or a drunk guy so I responded with the truth within 30 minutes of receiving this mail


Hello Sportsbook.ag,


"pocketpairsstacked" I never played with I don't think until last night.

There is no hand history included on your email for hand 88292156-506 so I don't know which hand you are talking about. I can tell you that in general after playing about 5-10 hands I realized this guy seemed pretty crazy so I played really tight because I knew after the flop I had the advantage because he was trying crazy plays and that seemed like the best way to beat him.

The poncho guy seems like a regular on the site and I like it when he plays because more players join the 6 max games.

I have no relationship with either player. I just think I am a better player than both of them.


Sincerely ,

JJ9917





And that is the truth. The guy I played 1 on 1 stunk and the other poncho guy who they mentioned is some random guy who plays from time to time who I have had a lot of success against. Other facts I would like to include is I had $4000 in my account before this game began and over the previous 2 months on the site I was ahead $11,000 and was beating the games consistently anytime I played whether it be 1 on 1 or full 6 max games





They respond with this the following day



Hi JJ9917,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

Our investigation leads us to believe that you are not being forthright with us.

Again, we require you to elaborate on your responce and explain your actions in hand: 88292156-506 while holding Qh-Kc

[04:19:15] JJ9917 is the Dealer
[04:19:15] Shuffling Cards
[04:19:15] JJ9917 Posted Small Blind $10.00
[04:19:15] pocketpairstacked Posted Big Blind $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Cards
[04:19:16] JJ9917 Raised to $30.00
[04:19:18] pocketpairstacked Raised to $45.00
[04:19:18] JJ9917 Calls $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Flop (8c,Ad,2h)
[04:19:21] pocketpairstacked Bets $15.00
[04:19:22] JJ9917 Folds
[04:19:22] $15.00 Returned to pocketpairstacked from Pot 2
[04:19:22] pocketpairstacked Wins $89.00 from Pot 1

Best Regards,

Daniel
Fraud Team
Merge Gaming Network



I read this and I have a feeling they have already made up their mind. How am I not being forthright when the hand they asked me about was not even presented to me in the original email? And I could not look the hand up on my own because I played the session on mobile and did not have the hand saved. Here is my detailed response which I sent back to them within 1 hour of receiving the mail from them.




Hello Sportsbook.ag,


How was I not being forthright with you when you did not include the hand history in your original message to me? You only included the hand number so I had no idea which hand you were referring to.

Here is the breakdown of the hand

I raise pre with KQ to $30

pocketpairstacked raises to $45

I call the bet

The flop rains down (8c,Ad,2h)

pocketpairstacked leads into me and I fold and here is why


I fold because I HAVE NO PAIR , and I DO NOT HAVE A BACKDOOR FLUSH DRAW as my hand is an offsuited KQ high and this guy has led into me some times with big hands in the 500 or so hands that we have played so I have no incentive to call him down because it will cost me $60 more to win only $90 and see if my calls are correct.

Also , this guy is weak at poker ,but he did raise to $45 preflop and even terrible players are going to show up with an Ace in this spot or a pair often when they show strength pre. So if this guy has ANY ACE I AM BEAT and I am BEHIND ANY POCKET PAIR and I am behind any hand he possibly raised to $45 pre with that contains an 8 or a 2 which is possible considering how bad he has played up to this point. So in this spot I am folding a very very high % of the time.

The other reason I will not call here is because I am playing an exploitative strategy ( a strategy where I can exploit the imbalances of my opponent when I have super strong hands). While doing this I do open myself up to being exploited but I do not perceive my opponent as the type of player who will be able to exploit me back while I play tighter and pound him when I have stronger hands.

https://www.upswingpoker.com/gto-vs-...imal-strategy/ (exploitative play vs GTO )


At the end of the day, I am a much better player than pocketpairstacked and if you look at my results the past 2 months overall this win is consistent as I have been beating most everyone and every game I have played in since joining the sportsbook.


Sincerely,

JJ917




A full day later I get this from them




Hi JJ9917,

Thank you for your detailed explanation

We have now concluded our investigation in your account. Given the way hands played out on your session on October 10th, we concluded that this was an intentional transfer of funds.

Please note that since we are committed on creating a fair and quality gaming experience, we are not able to tolerate a willing transfer of funds at our tables. Accordingly, those funds have been returned to their origin.

Moreover, we are unfortunately unable to allow you further access to our poker games.

You may continue using other products or withdraw your remaining balance should you decide to.

Best Regards,

Daniel
Fraud Team
Merge Gaming Network



I get this email from them and I just cannot believe it. I just chopped some guy into pieces for $4,000 and they are sending him back the money because he played terrible. Unbelievable!!!!

I followed up with this response



Dear Sportsboog.ag /Merge Network,



I would like to say that this is a terrible decision on your part based off of 0 evidence. I played a fish who was probably drunk and I destroyed him and now you are giving them back the money? THIS IS NOT RIGHT

And then to top it all off you based your decision off one hand that was 506 hands into a match that played out over ONE THOUSAND HANDS and the hand you presented to me I FOLDED A HIGH CARD not even a pair
I would like to request all of the hand histories from this match be sent to me as I do not have access to them as I played the match on mobile poker.



Since this email was sent to them on October 12th they have not sent me the hands for the session. In fact they have not responded to one email of mine since then. However I was allowed to cashout the $4050 that was in my account and still have access to everything but poker which is odd. If I did what they thought happened then wouldn't they just want me off the network period?

If they do release the hands to me which they should if they have nothing to hide, I will post every hand for the session so I can have limit experts look over the hands and they can conclude whether this was not a fair game. But the bottom line is this would be the worst and most inefficient way to ever dump chips and I think everyone will agree on that. I have sent multiple requests for the hand files and they still have not sent them to me.

The bottom line is this guy was either an extremely bad player who got destroyed or it was a site account who took a shot at me and got crushed and now they are swiping it under the rug. I can't even imagine what this guy said to them when they told him they believed he performed a willing transfer by dumping at the tables.

I will also be contacting the gaming licencing people

-JJ9917

I'm on the fence as to whether or not you're being honest here.

Is this the every single email they've sent you without edits?

Two things stick out to me.

You claim you timed out of a hand because you went to bathroom and to get water.
Later you claim you can't get HHs because you were using a mobile device. This isn't a huge red flag, but it definitely is something worth pointing out.

It also appears as if the HH you posted (that they sent you) has been edited. (timestamps)

[04:19:15] pocketpairstacked Posted Big Blind $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Cards
[04:19:16] JJ9917 Raised to $30.00

Quote:

---

[04:19:15] JJ9917 is the Dealer
[04:19:15] Shuffling Cards
[04:19:15] JJ9917 Posted Small Blind $10.00
[04:19:15] pocketpairstacked Posted Big Blind $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Cards
[04:19:16] JJ9917 Raised to $30.00
[04:19:18] pocketpairstacked Raised to $45.00
[04:19:18] JJ9917 Calls $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Flop (8c,Ad,2h)
[04:19:21] pocketpairstacked Bets $15.00
[04:19:22] JJ9917 Folds
[04:19:22] $15.00 Returned to pocketpairstacked from Pot 2
[04:19:22] pocketpairstacked Wins $89.00 from Pot 1

---

Request all Hand Histories, post them, and any other communications.

You've been screwed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by duped_samaritan

I'm on the fence as to whether or not you're being honest here.

Is this the every single email they've sent you without edits?

Two things stick out to me.

You claim you timed out of a hand because you went to bathroom and to get water.
Later you claim you can't get HHs because you were using a mobile device. This isn't a huge red flag, but it definitely is something worth pointing out.

It also appears as if the HH you posted (that they sent you) has been edited. (timestamps)

[04:19:15] pocketpairstacked Posted Big Blind $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Cards
[04:19:16] JJ9917 Raised to $30.00

Quote:

---

[04:19:15] JJ9917 is the Dealer
[04:19:15] Shuffling Cards
[04:19:15] JJ9917 Posted Small Blind $10.00
[04:19:15] pocketpairstacked Posted Big Blind $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Cards
[04:19:16] JJ9917 Raised to $30.00
[04:19:18] pocketpairstacked Raised to $45.00
[04:19:18] JJ9917 Calls $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Flop (8c,Ad,2h)
[04:19:21] pocketpairstacked Bets $15.00
[04:19:22] JJ9917 Folds
[04:19:22] $15.00 Returned to pocketpairstacked from Pot 2
[04:19:22] pocketpairstacked Wins $89.00 from Pot 1

---

Request all Hand Histories, post them, and any other communications.

---

This is every single email they have sent me with zero edits. I am willing to have Dan Druff verify this.

I didn't time out of a hand being played when I got water. I timed out because he said BRB and I said I told him the same as I needed a break too. I was still seated at the table and left the room and he sat back in before I was able to return and I was not in front of the screen at the time. So eventually it just times you out for sitting out for so long and then kicks you off of the table.

If you play via mobile the hands are not able to be retrieved unless you request them as far as I am aware. If you know a way, let me know and I will post all of them.

That hand is not edited by me. I will take a screenshot of what they sent me and I will post it. That is exactly how they sent the hand to me

I have gone to bat for Merge for their slow payouts over the years ( which dramatically improved after offering Bitcoin) but after all I have seen unfold over the past year or two and maybe a bit longer this does not surprise me one bit. I will detail more of this in a later post today time permitting.

The limit hold em community is a small one and I can confirm that I have played against JJ9917 @ 40-80 on some of the private sites this year (there are a bunch of them now) and he has been one of the bigger winners in the games. I also coached him for a couple of hours in June or July of this year and he is a sharp mind and I don't think he would be stupid enough to have chips dumped to him.

Just based on my play vs him in shorthanded games I would say he is a massive favorite vs any average players and most "Regs" in a heads up game.

good luck OP...merge is the nut fucking low...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by duped_samaritan

It also appears as if the HH you posted (that they sent you) has been edited. (timestamps)

[04:19:15] pocketpairstacked Posted Big Blind $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Cards
[04:19:16] JJ9917 Raised to $30.00

Quote:

---

[04:19:15] JJ9917 is the Dealer
[04:19:15] Shuffling Cards
[04:19:15] JJ9917 Posted Small Blind $10.00
[04:19:15] pocketpairstacked Posted Big Blind $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Cards
[04:19:16] JJ9917 Raised to $30.00
[04:19:18] pocketpairstacked Raised to $45.00
[04:19:18] JJ9917 Calls $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Flop (8c,Ad,2h)
[04:19:21] pocketpairstacked Bets $15.00
[04:19:22] JJ9917 Folds
[04:19:22] $15.00 Returned to pocketpairstacked from Pot 2
[04:19:22] pocketpairstacked Wins $89.00 from Pot 1

---

Request all Hand Histories, post them, and any other communications.

---

I do not know how to post pictures on the forum so if anyone can help me with this it would be great. I have also gotten in touch with Dan Druff about this and he can confirm the validity of the email and emails. This was either edited on their end or it is a glitch.

I have put in requests for the hands at least 4 times and they do not respond. I will be going to the gaming people next



https://imgur.com/a/xB48Z

Im a fish thats willing to donate, anyone know of any good "private sites", china? Pm me please.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JJ9917

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by duped_samaritan

It also appears as if the HH you posted (that they sent you) has been edited. (timestamps)

[04:19:15] pocketpairstacked Posted Big Blind $15.00
[04:19:18] Dealing Cards
[04:19:16] JJ9917 Raised to $30.00




Request all Hand Histories, post them, and any other communications.

---

I do not know how to post pictures on the forum so if anyone can help me with this it would be great. I have also gotten in touch with Dan Druff about this and he can confirm the validity of the email and emails. This was either edited on their end or it is a glitch.

I have put in requests for the hands at least 4 times and they do not respond. I will be going to the gaming people next



https://imgur.com/a/xB48Z

---

Fair enough. This post and Chinas vouch makes me believe you. Don't take my initial skepticism the wrong way.

Here's the image:

This sucks mate, left partypoker over a similar situation years ago.

What is the standard play in limit holdem with KQ and that flop playing heads up?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snake_in_the_ass

What is the standard play in limit holdem with KQ and that flop playing heads up?

---

I have probably played over 1 million and maybe as many as 2 million hands of Heads Up (HU) limit and I would suggest there are multiple answers and here they are.

Early in a HU match and your opponent is an unknown you are calling at least one bet and sometimes a 2nd for information and maybe even slight value although I think if someone fires 3 barrels here and you brick with KQ then the river call you are dead. But more often than not probably one and then a fold if you have no information on your opponent and the board bricks.

If it is later in a HU match and you are playing a balanced GTO type style vs a decent opponent you peel at least the flop more often than not but this can change on match flow etc and the prior 20-30 hands can have a big impact on ones decisions if they pick up on things players are doing

Vs. a total loose cannon like JJ9917 is describing I think a fold is plausible because you are going to have massive edges post flop in other hands and I think JJ9917's explanation he gave them is very reasonable vs. this type of player. If someone is trying to bluff you with a bunch of bets on the the turn and river in limit hold em then it's only a matter of time before they go broke. I think making calls with k highs (and even ace highs on kxx boards) vs a player like this is a mistake because even though it may be +ev to make the call on the hand it is still a marginal spot that can prolong you from breaking them.

I can even break this down further to make it simpler. Let's say you call off with this K high vs a loose cannon. Often times these guys are 3 betting pre and bombing the flop turn and the river. Your call according to the math might be correct but this guy could win 9 out of 10 of these because your edge is so small. That's why I think it is plausible to fold and use your calling and betting chips when you have a much larger edge because a bad player you can exploit very easily and make them pay when you are certain you have the best of it. And, you can break them much faster by avoiding these spots and focusing on the spots where they are bleeding chips faster as huge underdogs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JJ9917

And then to top it all off you based your decision off one hand that was 506 hands into a match that played out over ONE THOUSAND HANDS and the hand you presented to me I FOLDED A HIGH CARD not even a pair
I would like to request all of the hand histories from this match be sent to me as I do not have access to them as I played the match on mobile poker.

---

This is the LOL part of the whole thing. Why did they hand pick a marginal hand that was 500 hands into the match? If this was a chip dump wouldn't they have a much better example than the hand they provided? Not releasing the hands to him instantly is also very shady

Merge has been banning people for about 3-4 years for nothing other than winning and this year it seems it has gotten worse. I think I lost playing poker last September thru December and then I think I lost about $20,000 roughly in January and then a few months into the year I was a net $13,000 winner and they banned me from playing poker. So overall from Sept to April I may have been a breakeven player or maybe a slight winner or loser who generated a ton of rake and they still banned me from poker.

I know some other people who have gotten notices like JJ9917 earlier in the year and have had there accounts frozen for a day or 2. But this is the 1st I have heard of them taking money from someone.

I have been told by reliable sources that most of the people who understood the poker side of things at that company are not with them anymore.

Also when they used to have collusion cases and disputes on hands etc.... and stuff like JJ9917 is describing, I know one of the guys who they would turn to when they needed these issues resolved because he is a poker expert. He no longer works them on these issues from what I am told.

Bottom line is the people that work there have no clue about poker

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chinamaniac

Merge has been banning people for about 3-4 years for nothing other than winning and this year it seems it has gotten worse. I think I lost playing poker last September thru December and then I think I lost about $20,000 roughly in January and then a few months into the year I was a net $13,000 winner and they banned me from playing poker. So overall from Sept to April I may have been a breakeven player or maybe a slight winner or loser who generated a ton of rake and they still banned me from poker.

I know some other people who have gotten notices like JJ9917 earlier in the year and have had there accounts frozen for a day or 2. But this is the 1st I have heard of them taking money from someone.

I have been told by reliable sources that most of the people who understood the poker side of things at that company are not with them anymore.

Also when they used to have collusion cases and disputes on hands etc.... and stuff like JJ9917 is describing, I know one of the guys who they would turn to when they needed these issues resolved because he is a poker expert. He no longer works them on these issues from what I am told.

Bottom line is the people that work there have no clue about poker

---

how the hell is this place even viable any more? they gave me $5 that I quit trying to spin up because there was no poker traffic...are they still doing enough with sports and casino to survive?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GambleBotsChafedPenis

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chinamaniac

Merge has been banning people for about 3-4 years for nothing other than winning and this year it seems it has gotten worse. I think I lost playing poker last September thru December and then I think I lost about $20,000 roughly in January and then a few months into the year I was a net $13,000 winner and they banned me from playing poker. So overall from Sept to April I may have been a breakeven player or maybe a slight winner or loser who generated a ton of rake and they still banned me from poker.

I know some other people who have gotten notices like JJ9917 earlier in the year and have had there accounts frozen for a day or 2. But this is the 1st I have heard of them taking money from someone.

I have been told by reliable sources that most of the people who understood the poker side of things at that company are not with them anymore.

Also when they used to have collusion cases and disputes on hands etc.... and stuff like JJ9917 is describing, I know one of the guys who they would turn to when they needed these issues resolved because he is a poker expert. He no longer works them on these issues from what I am told.

Bottom line is the people that work there have no clue about poker

---

how the hell is this place even viable any more? they gave me $5 that I quit trying to spin up because there was no poker traffic...are they still doing enough with sports and casino to survive?

---

The player pool for poker has collapsed but they have the best software of any poker site IMO and they have LOL sportsbetting lines. So if you like nice software and good betting lines then this is the place.

The cons is they are greedy and booted all of the affiliates and they more or less stripped all player rewards from poker. They also charge 5 % per withdrawal so if you get a bitcoin WD for 5k you will only receive 4750

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chinamaniac

and they still banned me from poker.

---

So, you're saying you've been banned from playing poker for the last 6 months on Merge?

They still have not replied or sent hands to my email address. It has now been about a weeks worth of waiting

Its so frustrating because it is theft and there is no communication. Facts remain this would be the worst way to dump chips because of the time and cost. Finally IF i did take a dumpy transfer and they returned the funds to the other player I never would bother making this thread. Being on the banned list is not a problem for me. But they stole so another story

wouldn't this be a good case for the attorney who is the sponsor and the only sponsor on this site?

I know who JJ9917 is. I will not reveal his identity, but I can verify that he is a winning player, and was never known to have been a cheater or chip dumper.

I find it highly likely he is telling the complete truth here.

This is a clear case of Merge either stealing from winning players (likely) or being completely incompetent (unlikely, but possible).

The KQ hand is not at all unusual. It is very reasonable to fold KQ on an Axx board, especially if you're against an opponent who will put lots of money in bad in other spots. You might very well be drawing extremely thin on the flop if he flopped an A, and you're fairly well behind if he has flopped any pair. While many HU players will call KQ on an Axx board, it is not an automatic call, and such a call is indeed opponent dependent.

If they were looking for evidence of chip dumping, they would need to point to horrible folds, such as folding AT on a KT3 flop heads up.

As far as I know, no horrible or unusual folds occurred in the match.

They were clearly fishing for any justification to take the money.

I even think it's possible that JJ9917's opponent was a house player, and they were freerolling him. If JJ lost, then they'd keep the money. If he won, they would claim chip dumping and return the money to themselves.

Even if the opponent was a legitimate fish and simply got the money back, that's still outright stealing, in what was a legitimate heads up poker match.

Furthermore, even if this was not done with malicious intentions, it would show tremendous incompetence on the part of Merge security.

This is indeed a horrible look for Merge, and I will discuss it on radio today.

From the heart; this thread made me sick to my stomach.

At face value, the only logical conclusion is they are weeding out winning players and confiscating their rolls while they do it.