We’ve had many PocketFives.com members ask when we can expect to see the Merge Gaming Network once again allow new accounts from the United States. To shed some light on the issue, a source close to the network told PocketFives.com on Wednesday that the family of sites could begin accepting new U.S. sign-ups in two weeks. However, a definitive date has not yet been announced.

Merge closed its doors to new U.S. accounts six weeks ago, reportedly to catch up on payment processing after it was flooded due to Black Friday. Former American customers of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB, and Absolute flocked to Merge Gaming Network sites like Carbon Poker, Lock Poker, and Hero Poker. In early June, Merge halted U.S. sign-ups, but continues to accept new users from other parts of the globe.

Whether cashouts will be an issue once Merge re-opens to new U.S. customers remains to be seen. The same source told PocketFives.com that cashouts for non-U.S. players were “normal/fast” and that it was “business as usual on that front.”

For U.S. players, the only two options that appeared to be having success were paper checks and Click2Pay, although few Americans possess accounts with the latter e-wallet. Therefore, checks seemed to be the cashout method of choice and were generally taking four to eight weeks to process. Paper checks to non-U.S. players were taking a similar length of time.

In the Official Lock Poker Support Threadon PocketFives.com, Poker Room Manager Eric RizenLynch shared the cashout process at that Merge Gaming Network site: “We have a casino product and have been processing check payouts over there for close to a month now, with checks taking ~1-2 weeks to arrive. So while yes, there is a backlog of requests through the network on the poker side, we’ve offered a solution to pay our customers through our casino and players have been successfully receiving and cashing checks.”

According to Lynch, the first fee for the Lock Poker paper check option is waived; it runs $25 per check after that with a minimum withdrawal of $150.

In a Merge and Bodog Deposits and Cashoutsthread in the Poker Sites forum, one poster recounted how he received a card instead of a paper check from Carbon: “I just made a normal request on Carbon and a card was sent instead of a check. There was no e-mail or correspondence about it at all. Would be really nice if I could just keep the card and have it reloaded when I cash out.”

On Hero Poker, another Merge Gaming Network site, one member of the online poker community pasted an e-mail he received from cashout support: “Checks are taking from 6 to 8 weeks to be delivered. We realize this is a huge inconvenience and we sincerely apologize. We know 6-8 weeks seems like a long time, but we’d rather be honest with you than give you unrealistic timeframes. Rest assured, we are working to get your withdrawal to you just as quickly as we can.”

Another player in the Deposits and Cashouts thread told the community that he had successfully completed his withdrawal and received a check after six weeks: “It’s true, after six grueling weeks of e-mails, my first check from Carbon has finally found its way home… So, I guess for all of you that have been inquiring about Carbon, at least we know of one person who has finally had a successful cashout.”

On Wednesday, Carbon Poker e-mailed its members touting a 70% reload bonus up to $750, available only until July 31st at 11:59 server time. Interested players can use the bonus code JULY350 in order to take advantage of the offer.

Carbon Poker has also recently moved to a dot-ag domain name, following in the footsteps of other major online poker sites. Lock Poker currently makes its home on LockPoker.eu, while Hero Poker still is hosted on its dot-com domain.

We’ll keep you updated on the latest on the Merge Gaming Network. Check out the various threads in the Poker Sites forum for more information and to share your own experiences.