PocketFives has confirmed through a source close to the network that Merge Gaming CEO Anthony Taylor has stepped down. PocketFives first caught wind of the story last week, although we were at the time unable to confirm it concretely. Pokerfuse broke the news in an article published on Monday. The news site explained, "The reason for Taylor’s departure is unknown, although it is understood that companies with a business relationship with the network have been reassured that his resignation is not cause for concern."Taylor is based out of Australia and has experience in online gaming, product management, and new business development, according to his LinkedIn profile. Our source could not elaborate on the reason for his departure and wished to remain anonymous. According to Pokerfuse, Taylor had been the CEO of Merge Gaming since 2007. His former employer has not released any official statement on the issue.
Merge is the second largest family of sites to take real money U.S. players, trailing only the Revolution Gaming Network, the latter of which includes rooms like Cake Poker and Lock Poker. According to PokerScout, the Merge Gaming Network has a seven-day running average of 940 real money ring game players and a 24-hour peak of nearly 1,700.
In May, Lock Poker vacated Merge in favor of the Cake Poker Network, which it purchased and re-branded as the Revolution Gaming Network. The old Cake Poker Network has seen its traffic grow by 66% year-over-year as a result, according to PokerScout, while the cash game traffic on Merge has slide by one-fifth over the same time period.In 2011, Merge Gaming shut its doors to new U.S. accounts, citing a backlog of payment processing, for a period of four months stretching from June to October. After reopening in mid-October of last year, its traffic grew 15% despite rumors of potential legal action from the U.S. Department of Justice.
It's important to note that PocketFives does not recommend playing online poker on sites offering rake-based games in the United States. Your money may be at risk. Instead, we feel more comfortable at this time recommending no-rake sites such as HogWild Poker.
