HandHQ Adds Merge Gaming Network Support

While HandHQ has long been a leading supplier of data mining for popular sites like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, the iPoker Network, the Ongame Network, Bodog, and others, it has also begun to support sites that have not previously been data mined.

Since the events of the April 15th indictments against the founders of the largest three U.S.-facing online poker sites in the business, more and more software companies have made themselves available to rooms that have remained friendly to U.S. players.

Now, HandHQ has announced that it has added support for the increasingly popular suite of online poker sites on the Merge Gaming Network like Carbon Poker and Lock Poker.

HandHQ currently makes millions of hand histories available and allows online players to purchase these hands and import them directly into PokerTracker, Holdem Manager, and Poker Office. The hand information gives players a wealth of information without ever having to invest a big blind at the table.

The information gained from data mining sites like HandHQ offers a great number of advantages to online poker players. The review and importing of data allows you to get an edge on your opponents by seeing how tightly or loosely they play as well as whether the player has a passive or aggressive betting style.

Data mining also can demonstrate how much opposing players have won or lost, as well as their critical stats. The information is extremely valuable and is the way that some professional online players find leaks in their opponents’ games. Having complete information on your opponents can be the difference between being a losing player and a being a winning player.By using the best hand grabbing and data mining technology available, HandHQ provides a wealth of information for virtually every online poker room, but the addition of the Merge Gaming Network is welcome news.

To give you some background, on April 15th, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed indictments against 11 defendants, from payment processors to the founders of the three largest U.S.-facing online poker rooms. In response to the indictments, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker ceased U.S. operations.

While the big three sites were shut down to U.S. players, several smaller sites were still operating and, as you’d expect, players began flooding to them to continue playing online poker. The most popular sites included Carbon Poker and Lock Poker, which operate on the Merge Network. However, many poker software companies had largely avoided Merge because of the lack of player volume.

Since April 15th, more companies have begun offering their software for Merge, including HandHQ. Now, players can data mine hands from No Limit Hold’em, Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha games at variety of stakes and buy-ins on one of the fastest growing online poker networks available. Interested HandHQ customers can take a look at the wide array of information available with a 10,000-hand sample pack for just $0.99.

Phil Ivey Files Lawsuit Against Full Tilt Poker

Phil Ivey is in the news and this time it is not for being the best at poker, but rather it is because he has filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker. Phil Ivey has decided to make a stand against Full Tilt Poker by not going to this year’s WSOP; he has also turned against Full Tilt Poker. Poker professionals have a mixed reaction towards this turn of events.

Click Here For Sites Still Accepting USA Players

Daniel Negreanu, a younger poker professional, who has earned himself a great name as well, says he admires Phil Ivey, in that he has even given up on the WSOP in order to stand his ground. He also said that Full Tilt Poker’s response to Phil Ivey’s lawsuit was a poor demonstration and that they had not put as much effort into returning payments.

Some players have also been against Phil Ivey stating that he has been favoring himself with all these statements, considering the fact that he holds primary equity in Full Tilt Poker, and that he gains more profit than anyone else from the Full Tilt Poker site. Andrew Robl is the one who spoke openly about Phil Ivey and his take on Ivey’s true intentions. Tom Dwan, who did not even own any part of the site returned players some money from his own account, and Phil Ivey has done nothing to match the same. By talking against Full Tilt Poker, Phil Ivey is just delaying the process of any kind of repayments that might be in the pipeline.

Phil Ivey is considered a legendary poker professional and his views might be worshipped by many, but players should look at the way he plays but not blindly follow him in every way. In such a situation, most people and most companies would try to favor themselves.

Full Tilt Poker, already has enough to deal with, and another lawsuit is not going to change the equation. On the whole, the only people suffering from this kind of a dramatic change are the players who were most dependent on this site and other such sites.

The US government should also consider the fact that most poker players do not consider gambling wrong, they consider it as entertainment and consider it as an invasion of privacy when they are unable to access this mode of entertainment from the comfort of their own homes.