Carbon Poker

Carbon Poker
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Due to the massive influx of US players, the Merge Network has halted all new US player sign ups. It is expected that Carbon's doors will reopen within 4-6 weeks, during which time Carbon and the rest of Merge will make the necessary upgrades to accommodate all their new US players.

Carbon Poker has been operating since 2007, providing online poker to players in the United States and around the world. Certified and licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Carbon Poker has been operating on the Merge Network since being founded, and has grown to be one of the largest sites on the network of over 40 skins. With great security, software, game choice and an outstanding welcome bonus, Carbon Poker is one of the best US poker sites on the internet today.

While Carbon Poker can’t boast the same number of players as the big names in the business, the Merge network nevertheless has support for an excellent array of games. The classic Texas Hold’Em is of course on offer, as well as Omaha and Stud variants which have become largely standard, but they also offer 2-7 Triple Draw, Five Card Draw and even Badugi. Merge seems to be able to supply enough players such that tables in these lesser-known games are consistently running, placing Carbon Poker among the best US poker sites for game variety.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission who, as stated earlier, license and regulate Carbon Poker are a very well established name in the business, and you simply won't find a poker room bearing this stamp of approval without being extremely reputable and reliable. Strong security is used, and Carbon Poker offers very adequate customer service, so players can rest easy in the knowledge that their personal and financial details are safe, as are any funds they wish to deposit or withdraw from the site.

It's become commonplace for online poker rooms to offer welcome bonuses to new players, and Carbon Poker does exactly that, with the key point being that their bonus is significantly larger than the norm. Using the Carbon Poker coupon code FTR200 entitles you to an exclusive bonus of 150% up to $1,000 on your initial deposit. That means that however much you deposit, you'll receive an additional 1.5x that amount up to a maximum of $1,000!

The bonus isn't released instantly in one lump sum, but rather over time as you play poker in real money ring games and tournaments. You'll automatically earn VIP Points as you do this, and for every 375 VIP points you will get $5 of your total bonus released into your account. This is simply to protect against people abusing the bonus system, and you have an unlimited amount of time to clear the bonus, so don't panic about missing out.

Carbon Poker is a member of the Merge Poker Network. It would probably be more accurate to describe Carbon Poker as the face of the network, as they're the largest and most well known site that Merge can boast, however since players are shared by the entire network this has little bearing on traffic and game selection. The Merge network is a very sizable one, and players of nearly any form of poker should be able to find game running, whether they're hunting for a table playing Texas Holdem, Omaha variants, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, Draw, Triple Draw or Badugi. Mixed games such as HORSE and HOSE are also available.

Speaking primarily in terms of Texas Holdem, Carbon Poker is one of the best US Poker sites which has a good spread across all types of games, ranging from Cash tables to Sit'N'Go Tournaments to larger Multi-Table Tournaments. Their MTTs have an excellent record of producing big payouts, thanks largely to the scheduled weekly and daily guarantees, and their cash games are always alive and well at stakes ranging from micro to mid, with high stakes action a bit limited. SNG tournaments are perhaps not as popular on Merge compared to some other networks, but not to the extent that you'll ever struggle to find a game running.

The Carbon Poker download is just under 20MB, which is fairly standard for good poker rooms these days. You might find sites claiming smaller downloads, but you're simply downloading an Installer application, which then goes on to download more files on its own. A Mac version of the software was recently announced, so users of both Mac and Windows are now able to play side-by-side, and the client should run on any computer purchased within the last few years.

The interface is pretty solid, while there's nothing outstanding that made us fall in love, we couldn't find anything to complain about either. The lobby uses a fairly standard filtering system with tabs, so you can set it up to only show the kinds of games you're interested in playing, and the cashier interface is straight-forward. On the tables everything is very responsive, which is nice to see, and all the usual options, preferences and features are present to make playing both easy and enjoyable.