The whole Merit system hasn't been working great. On the one hand, spammers often manage to get merit; but on the other hand, very-good posters sometimes struggle to get any. Therefore, we're going to switch to a totally-skill-based method of ranking-up: pMerit. The next 24 hours will be a transition period, where you will slowly be de-ranked over the course of the day if you don't earn enough pMerit. But if you get enough pMerit, you can rank-up from Newbie to Legendary right away.
It's a nice try, but - NO. I'll fall for this trick. 
When entering the forum, the first thought was, "What surprise has @theymos prepared for us?" Charming idea with poker!
Everyone starts out with 1000 pMerit. You earn more pMerit by taking other users' pMerit in Merit Poker, proving your superior intelligence.
The poker table was a good opportunity to advertise some gambling site as a sponsor. Their advertising budget should have been used.