Carbon Poker Review

Full www.CarbonPoker.ag Poker Review

Carbon Poker is the main room of the Merge Poker Network, one of the oldest and largest online poker networks in the industry.  Players drawn to Carbon are usually interested in the unique and feature-packed software, solid game selection and solid reputation for customer service and reliability.  To learn more about those aspects of Carbon Poker, along with a few others like software compatibility and game toughness, continue on for our review of the online poker room at Carbon Poker.

Carbon Poker: Game Selection

Carbon earns our highest grades on this point.  In addition to the core games like Texas Holdem, Omaha and Stud, Carbon is one of the few rooms to offer a wide range of more exotic games such as 5 Card Draw and 5 Card Stud, Badugi, Razz and Lowball.  On top of that, Carbon also offers players mixed game rotations like HOSE, HORSE and HEROS. 

Rooms can offer all of the games under the sun, but that variety ultimately means nothing if players don't show up to fill the tables.  As one of the 10 largest online poker rooms for real-money play, Carbon hosts dozens of active tables around the clock featuring both cash play and tournament play.  Cash players will find that No Limit Holdem accounts for about 75% of available games, with PLO making up about 20% of the remaining games and the exotic variants on offer at Carbon providing the remaining action.  Stakes tend toward the lower side of the spectrum, although it is worth noting that Carbon has a more even distribution of players across all stakes than other rooms of similar size.

Tournament players will see a lobby more heavily dominated by No Limit Hold'em, which easily makes up over 95% of the available tournament selection for both Sit n' Go (SNG) and Multi-Table (MTT) tournaments.  Buy ins cluster at $15 and below for SNG tournaments, and the average MTT buy in is close to that number as well - an estimated 85% of tournaments running on Carbon at a typical point have a buy in under $15.

There is no fast-fold client (Zoom Poker or similar) at Carbon Poker.

Carbon Poker: How Tough are the Games?

Carbon benefits immensely from being part of the Merge Network, a network with dozens and dozens of individual rooms.  Many of those rooms are attached to casinos or sports books, helping to provide a steady diet of weak opposition for the stronger players at Carbon.  The room also has significant mainstream reach in a variety of markets, another plus when it comes to grading the softness of the games you'll find at Carbon.

Working in opposition to those positives:  Carbon still remains a room that is heavily dependent on (and therefore aggressively marketed to) more experienced online poker players to.  While you'll find plenty of weak players at the tables, you'll also find a few more strong players on average.  The result:  Carbon gets a slightly better-than-average grade for game softness, but be aware that the soft spots you will find are likely to be exploited quickly by other good players.

Carbon Poker: Mac & Mobile Compatibility

Carbon Poker was one of the first online poker rooms to roll out a dedicated poker room for Mac players, and the room continues to support that client.  While that means Mac and Windows desktop users won't have any trouble accessing the games on Carbon Poker, potential customers who prefer to play on an iPad, iPhone or Android device won't find those options available at Carbon - not yet, anyhow. 

Carbon does not offer an instant-play version of their software, so Linux and Ubuntu users (along with others who prefer no download poker options) will need to run Windows within their OS or otherwise make do with the downloadable client to play at the room. Please see our Carbon download guide learn more about the devices Carbon's software is compatible with.

Carbon Poker: How Do I Deposit and Withdraw Funds?

There are literally dozens of US banking options at Carbon Poker, but the options you'll have access to depends on where you're from.  Almost all players have credit cards, MoneyGram and Western Union as deposit options; major e-wallets like Moneybookers and Instadebit are also available for select regions.

The primary cash out option at Carbon depends on your deposit method; for e-wallets and similar services you'll use the same method to withdraw as you did to deposit.  If you can't cash out to a given method (credit cards, for example), the standard withdrawal method at Carbon is check.  Current processing times at Carbon appear to be measured in days or weeks (as opposed to the months some other rooms take to process checks).

Carbon Poker: Playing Online Poker Legally

Carbon Poker is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.  Other individual rooms on the Merge Gaming Network may be regulated by other jurisdictions.  Carbon operates in dozens and dozens of global markets and has - to the best of our knowledge - never been the subject of any governmental action or sanction.  As an operator offering licensed and regulated games, Carbon provides individuals with a legitimate platform for playing poker against one another - but, regardless, it's always a good idea for each person to confirm the legality of playing poker where they are located.

Play Now At Carbon Poker