Carbon Poker Goes Live with Real-Money Mobile App

Carbon Poker, the largest site on the Merge Network, has quietly gone live with a real-money, mobile-device app for its site.  The news comes following full pay-chip testing of the mobile app initiated just four weeks ago, that after Carbon announced earlier this summer that a mobile app was in the works.

This is great news for American poker players, with Carbon allowing the app to be used by players in 44 of the 50 United States.  The six exceptions, along with a seventh in the District of Columbia, are Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York and Washington.  All seven of these jurisdictions are already blocked by the network, denying access to its traditional internet-based platform.

The mobile app is somewhat limited at this early stage, with games limited to no-limit and fixed-limit hold'em cash games micro stakes, with Omaha and other games still to be introduced, along with tournament and SNG play.  Some accessibility issues still to be resolved for Android users.  At the present time, the app is also designed to be used in conjunction with a traditional Merge Network / Carbon Poker account, for which players must register separately using a standard Web-connected computer.  Once an account is created and funded, players may then access and play in the games via the new app.

A Carbon Poker representative posting on various discussion forums announced the app had gone live for real money this week, as well as dropping the address for existing real-money Carbon players to download the app: http://m.carbonpoker.ag. Early users reported Google Chrome accessibility working properly on mobile devices, but some problems were occurring in conjunction with Firefox.

For those 44 states where players are able to play on the Merge Network, this week's official rollout marks the first time US-based players are able to play real-money poker via mobile device, a capability that's been enjoyed in other parts of the world for two or three years.  Given the historic significance, Carbon's rollout is understated if anything.  Carbon's parent Merge remains in a three-way battle for US-facing market supremacy, with Bodog and the Winning Poker Network, and the introduction of a mobile app has the potential to be a big moneymaker for the Aussie-based site and network.

Carbon Poker Seeking Beta Testers for New Mobile App

Carbon Poker, the largest site on the Merge Network, is now seeking beta testers for its real-money cash-game offerings as played via mobile apps.  The pending rollout by Carbon and Merge is the first significant offering of a smart-device, mobile-app offering for a US-facing online poker site.

Carbon first unveiled plans for its mobile offerings back in February, when it announced play-money testing of its first app, then available only for users of the iPad and iPod Touch.  Since then, the site has expanded its mobile-app developments to include all sorts of devices, using the HTML5 protocol which can be read by multiple devices and user platforms.

Carbon's initial test was followed by an update on the official Carbon Poker blog, which confirmed that the testing was successful and ongoing.  That update:

Due to the success of the limited release, Merge have given us permission to open access to the mobile client to anyone who is interested in giving it a shot.

We would still really appreciate you get back to us with your feedback, be it positive or negative. We are really excited about the release of this mobile version, and are really looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

In order to access the mobile client on your phone, iPod or tablet, you will need to point your device’s web browser to https://carbonpoker.mergeclient.eu/.

Next, you will be instructed to create it as a shortcut on your home screen for ease of access. Once you have done this, you should be all set to go.

Have fun, and please let us know your feedback.

In recent days, Carbon spokesman "CarbonChris" has also issued a brief call for beta testers on 2+2.  CarbonChris wrote, "CarbonPoker is just about ready to launch our mobile app for real money play. But first, we're looking for some beta testers to help us get the app ready. From now, we'll accept new beta testers for micro stakes real money play. Just post your screen name in this thread before Aug 16th. Then we'll release further instructions via email in regards to how to participate and how to report bugs."

Existing Carbon players without a 2+2 account should try e-mailing the viphost@carbonpoker.ag address mentioned in the February post to seek inclusion in the beta test, which, as noted,  going to be limited to micro-stakes at basic games (NLHE, etc.) until the framework is verified as operational.