Online Poker Cash Outs: Hero Poker CEO Responds to Concerns

Hero Poker is a relatively new boutique online poker room and its CEO, David Jung, does a remarkable job of keeping his players (and even the industry) up to date on the latest cash out issues concerning the industry.

Hero Poker is a Merge skin that decided a few weeks back to pull out of the US market for the time being, due mostly to the lack of payment processors available following the April 15 indictments of Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Absolute.

Merge Poker (also known as Merge Gaming) decided to follow suit last week but feels it will be ready to re-enter the US market as early as July.

Merge has been absolutely backlogged by payout requests since its US-facing processors cap the daily number.  It has stopped taking on new customers from the US in an effort to relieve this strain on the system while seeking out new processing platforms.  Growth at Merge is believed to be at around 200 percent over last year during the last month and the network admits being ill-equipped to handle this type of influx.

It is being reported that a few of the Merge skins have started to allow cashouts via Western Union at “steep” fees.  Still, Western Union was once considered among the most viable options when the industry first came into existence back in 1996.  Since we’ve essentially been pushed back into those dark ages, Western Union may again become a wise option for those who simply must play poker online.  The Everleaf online poker network is currently only offering Western Union as an option. 

Jung is resistant to the idea of using WU at this time, mainly since Merge has opted not to explore the idea of Western Unions.

“I'd rather just follow with Merge as it make economic sense for everyone on a cost/scale issue.,” he tells members on TwoPlusTwo.  “I know its been very frustrating as of recently, even one of my own players had their check bounce, but the next check was fine, and we reimbursed the player for the banking fees, but in normal circumstances this can happen, but right now this really is a transitional period.”

Jung will be visiting with the heads of Merge Poker in Australia to give his customers a better view of what the future holds for that company in the coming weeks and months – not just on the payout/processing front, but also as it relates to a massive new upgrade anticipated for later this year. 

-       Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher

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