Carbon Poker Unexpectedly Closes 2+2 Forum

In an abrupt move, Carbon Poker has decided to close their 2+2 support forum, asking players to send all requests from here on out directly to Carbon Poker support.

The announcement made by Mat Sklansky has caused the usual amount of alarm and speculation on the 2+2 poker forums:

After the past few great years on 2+2, we are closing our sub-forum as of today.

To ensure players receive the highest level of support from CarbonPoker, all feedback, questions and promotional clarification will be done through [email protected] or LiveChat on our website. We look forward to offering more comprehensive and timely support via this channel.

Thanks for the years of support, discussions, and feedback. All the best.

Carbon Players Want Answers

Considering the current state of other US-facing poker rooms the 2+2 users were justifiably concerned with Carbon’s decision, and with numerous players on 2+2 pressing for answers Carbon released the following statement:

It was a decision that Carbon management made to streamline and improve their customer support and they aren’t leaving because they’re upset with TwoPlusTwo in any way.

This statement is unlikely to quench the thirsts of the fairly large group of conspiracy-minded and pessimistic 2+2 users.

Possible Motivations

Using Occam’s razor, the most obvious reason for Carbon to end their affiliation with 2+2 would be money. Sponsored forums on 2+2 are not free, nor are they cheap, and it’s highly likely that Carbon Poker looked at their books and couldn’t justify the amount of money they were paying 2+2 every month.

This makes even more sense when you consider the Merge Gaming Network’s withdrawal times have been steadily improving in recent months. In his latest Online Poker Cashout Report, John Mehaffey has Merge/Carbon receiving a B+ grade, an upward trend.

Timing Matters

An unintended consequence that Carbon will have to deal with is that the decision comes on the heels of the highly-criticized move by Lock Poker to close their 2+2 support forum and move all support queries to their own (highly moderated) forum.

While Carbon Poker has experienced intermittent issues with cashout speeds since Black Friday, overall their withdrawal issues are nowhere near those of Lock Poker, but closing the forum could create a connection between the two sites in players’ minds.