COMMENTARY: Merge Network Actually Making More Money As MTT Schedule Continues To Shake Out

**UPDATED with new MTT data on 10/21/13**

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 10/14/13 at 11:56pm EST: The Merge Gaming Network is in the midst of fine-tuning their new multi-tournament schedule - and as featured in ProfRB.com's own Merge Network MTT Report, despite some public criticism to the contrary, the network is actually producing more profits across MTT's with guarantees of $5k and higher as the new schedule continues to stabilize.

Merge announced at the beginning of October that they were making changes to the MTT schedule across the board. Standardization and a more streamlined schedule were the aims; and on that note, one would think they've succeeded. One of the smaller critiques of players was that their tournament lobby was cluttered with several non-guaranteed tournaments - those have since been discarded in favor of the GTD format. However, one concern that has remained is the number of highly-micro GTD tournaments; every hour there are several $100 GTD or lower MTT's. But this still fits with Merge's aims to open up the schedule and make it more clear for the casual player looking to play small stakes. And due to this continuing into October's third week, one comes to the conclusion that these MTT's are having the desired effect.

Before the changes, Merge's MTT offerings constantly brought in profits across their work week and weekend schedules at a steady pace. Since the change in October, while the consistency may not be the same (including fluctuating GTD amounts and MTT starting times), the profits generated across MTT's with $5k GTD's and higher have actually brought in slightly more money to the network so far this month.

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DATA UPDATED ON 10/21/13

September work week avg profit per day: $4,850
October work week avg profit per day: $5,270 (up $1,114 from 10/14)

September Saturday avg profit per day: $3,727
October Saturday avg profit per day: -$2,665 (up $2,100 from 10/14)

September Sunday avg profit per day: $11,096
October Sunday avg profit per day: $22,794 (up $287 from 10/14)

September Total avg profit per day: $5,741
October Total avg profit per day (through 13 days): $5,927
October Total avg profit per day (through 20 days): $6,708 (up $781 from 10/14)

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Now, a fair critique of the above statistics is that Merge ran their Poker Maximus VI tournament series in September, which resulted in a slightly lower-than-normal turnout in several regularly scheduled MTT's. But the fact that Merge, through 13 days in October, is averaging more average profit across MTT's with GTD's of $5k and higher - even when factoring in two net losses in Saturday MTT's - speaks to the early success of their new scheduling initiative (added 10/21: even moreso after collecting and analyzing the data through 20 days). This is even more impressive considering the hiccups of tournaments being shuffled and GTD's being adjusted daily.

One area where criticism is deserved is one that a lot of online poker rooms and networks could stand to improve upon. Public relations - or specifically the lack thereof - has been an achilles heel for many rooms when it comes to simply getting the word out. Through the first couple weeks of October, Merge has indeed failed in informing their players of daily changes, leaving some to speculate on their long-term stability. Of course, simply because a network or room does not keep players up to date with every change they make doesn't mean they are going to collapse tomorrow. However, Merge could stand to learn a valuable lesson here: if you keep players generally informed, you can head off a lot of the public perception that inevitably turns south. Merge's leaving the popular 2+2 poker forum, for instance, could have been handled much better and if it had, they could have stemmed a lot of the ensuing public outcry (whether it was deserved or not).

The numbers above are a prime example: despite the growing pains of change, Merge continues to show that they are a viable, top option for MTT players. Overlays have been more frequent as well, which is another opportunity to get players to the tables. 30 of the 68 MTT's ran Monday through Saturday in October have had overlays totaling over $45,000 (added 10/21: now 39 of 108 overlaid totaling over $54,000). That should be an attractive number to casual and regular tournament grinders. But most aren't aware of these facts: general perception is that the network is losing players, and money, on their new schedule.

All in all, while concerns and criticisms are all fair game when it comes to the changes made by Merge (there is still plenty of room to address early morning and mid-day MTT's, for example), the numbers don't lie. Player traffic is steady and slightly improving, and though there are still areas for improvement, the sky, as they say, is definitely not falling on the Merge Gaming Network.

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