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

[DonaldTrumpsHairPiece]

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

[snake_in_the_ass]

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

[chinamaniac]

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.

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

[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

[GambleBotsChafedPenis]

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?

[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

[Hockey Guy]

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?

[JJ9917]

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

[FRANKRIZZO]

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

[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?

I got banned in March or April I think. One day I tried to log in and I got a message saying to email support or something to that effect. They basically just said I was welcome to play any casino or sports bets but I was restricted from the poker room. I was barely putting in volume and wasn't doing well for the prior 6 months

[JJ9917]

The people who control the decisions at the sportsbook are aware there was a long segment on the POKER FRAUD ALERT radio show and they still ignore my emails and my requests to gather all of the hand history which they hold. They have not responded to anything since they made the decisions.

Great segment on the radio show too. It was broken down perfectly by Dan Druff. I would give them permisiion to post the hands here, or give them to Dan or they could just send them to me and I will post them all here for the world of poker to see

[sah_24]

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

I can 2nd the banning winning players thing, Merge has banned literally every winning MTT player that I know. If you win on there for any extended period of time then you will be gg'ed. This is the first time I have read about them being scummy to take the money from someones account though !

Really shitty and as others have said Merge is the nut low...