Merge Poker Players Now Getting Paid Through PIC Club

Good news for those online poker players caught in the middle of a high profile payment feud between the Merge Online Poker network and PIC Club Poker, a payment platform.  These players are finally going to be getting paid.

PIC Club Poker CEO Chuck Kidd reports that Merge has paid one third of what he claims they owe his company, thus allowing players to receive their funds.

Kidd has insisted that Merge owes $160,000 to PIC Club Poker since mid summer.  Merge claims that a "whale" used PIC Club Poker to pull funds in and out of various Merge Network online poker rooms, thus resulting in extensive fees.   PIC Club charges fees on each deposit and withdrawal.  Furthermore, the player in question admits that his wife charged back on his credit card. 

While both PIC Club Poker and Merge may have presented valid arguments, there is no excuse for poker players to get caught in the middle.

Gambling911.com reported on Wednesday that at least one Merge poker room, Aced.com, was telling customers they could not pay since funds were being held by PIC Club (the processor).  In recent years, reputable online gambling firms have been burnt by payment processors to the tune of millions of dollars but still manage to pay their players.  Gambling911.com also noted that a recent seizure of over $40 million in funds belonging to both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars by the US Attorney of the Southern District of New York did not prevent either company from paying its customers, despite being out a significant amount of money. 

"The players checks are going out so our fight for the players is over," said Kidd.

But the PIC Club Poker CEO says his company is still owed a significant amount of money from Merge Poker. 

"Now I have the fight for the funds still due to PICClub. I have a responsibility to all of PICClub Investors, Staff and Members to try to recover these funds. Remember we are an Investment Company and we pay interest on all the players funds in their Common Share Account (CSA). We paid 14% this first year and 10.5 our second year. This is based completely on our profits as a company so the funds still due to PICClub are important to every PICClub Member. I hate to see that money not get collected and it have an impact on the percentage payout to the CSA this December."

Merge CEO, Anthony Taylor, was expected to present his side to Gambling911.com shortly.  To date, Taylor has said little outside of issuing a company statement that Merge had severed ties with PIC Club Poker. 

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher