Archive for the ‘Lock Poker’ Category
Lock Poker Issues in Malta
September 8th, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
Malta Gambling Commission
Lock Poker is in the news facing more possible trouble, but it is not from the US this time. The Merge Network site is under scrutiny because they have been displaying the seal of approval of the Malta Gambling Commission which it is not licensed for. The MGA has stated that they have never worked with Lock Poker and therefore the poker site should not be displaying their seal.
The main characteristic of a site that is able to display this specific seal is that the poker room must be licensed in Malta. According to a statement on their website they have never given a license to Lock Poker. The MGA of course goes on to urge players not to play on sites that are not officially licensed by them. This is truly interesting because other sites on the Merge Network like Black Chip Poker, Hero Poker, and Overbet Poker are licensed by the Malta Gaming Commission. Unfortunately for them in this situation, Lock Poker is licensed by Kahnawake Gaming Commission which is from Canada. But since sites on the same network as Lock are licensed in Malta, it is intriguing as to why the MGA is only targeting
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Lock Poker to Sue Macedo
August 19th, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
Never-Ending Story
The original story of Jose Macedo scamming his so-called friends and getting a lot of money due to some shady behavior was big enough, but the saga continues. Lock Poker recently announced that it would be taking legal action against Macedo. This news was broken in a few public statements issued by Lock Poker card room manager Eric Lynch. Mr. Lynch is also a poker pro himself. We hafve the official statements from Mr. Lynch and Lock Poker below.
Lock Poker Statement
Here is the first of 2 statements released by Lock:
“Lock is currently pursuing legal action against Jose so we are unable to make a substantial comment at this time. We do realize that ongoing silence can lead to people jumping to conclusions. What happened goes against the very core of our player based philosophy and we intend on exercising our legal rights in the most severe degree. We will keep you updated as things progress”
Mr. Lynch also released a follow-up statement regarding the situation:
“It’s being filed in the near future, once it is the details of what exactly the purpose is will become clearer. There is still some due diligence that must be done first, but I advised it would be better to comment as best we could for now rather than stay silent.
“I was VERY clear with Lock before we released this statement that it was a bad idea unless we were actually committed to pursuing legal action, otherwise it would just look like an attempt to avoid commenting.
“I cannot control how the community decides to react to things, and given the nature and history of online poker over the last 4-5 years I certainly don’t blame people for taking anything that goes on with a heavy dose of cynicism.
“If a reasonable amount of time goes by and there are no updates and no filings then I fully expect the community to call us out on it. I think if history has taught us anything about the 2+2 community, it’s that hoping they forget about things or let them go is a bad strategy.”
This just goes to show that Lock Poker is as much of a victim as the ones who lost money thanks to Macedo, they were just as shocked as the rest of us when they heard this story originally break. We will be sure to keep you filled in as this story progresses and develops.
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Leo Margets Joins Lock Poker
August 16th, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
First Female with Lock
Hailing from Spain, Leo Margets is not exactly a typical poker player. Not only is she a woman in a male-run sport, but she is a very good looking woman at that and in all honesty, one would probably not initially take her to be a poker player. She became known in the world of online poker thanks to the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event in which she was the last woman to survive. In that 2009 WSOP she won over $350,000 which was a lot more than the roughly $7000 she had made in all live earnings before the World Series.
Since that fantastic finish, Margets has not really seen anything of the same magnitude but she has had some winnings that total over $50,000 in the 2009 Aussie Millions and a pretty strong finish in the Full Tilt Masters Series where she went home with over $130,000.
Getting Her Start
Leo was first introduced to the game by her boyfriend and had success immediately winning her first live tournament. After that she was graced with a sponsorship offer from 888.com. To date Margets has won just about $650,000 in live games during her short career. She currently ranks sixth on Spain’s all-time money list, and she still has a lot more poker to play.
She offered a statement in a press release saying, ““I am incredibly happy and thrilled to join Lock! I am also super proud to be part of a family with so extraordinary players, this new era that now starts is a huge motivation for me! I am looking forward representing Lock in all over the world!”
It is once again interesting to see Lock Poker, and more importantly the Merge Gaming Network in the news. Currently they are not accepting US sign-ups, but the most recent news tells us that within weeks and maybe even days that will all be changed.
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Week In Review
August 14th, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
Merge Coming Back
Some of the biggest news this week was overshadowed by the fact that the Merge gaming Network has announced its imminent return to the US market. Earlier in the summer the network announced that it would be pulling out of the United States market because of traffic volumes that caused delays in payment and because it would be in their best interest after all of the happenings surrounding Black Friday. With them they took some poker sites that were becoming quite popular in the dwindling US market, including Lock and Carbon poker.
But now, with most of the payout problems fixed and the Merge Network still facing no issues with the US government, it is a good time for them to burst back onto the scene. This means that players once again have somewhere to turn. Poker in the US may be on one of its last legs, but this turn of events should show everyone that it is most definitely not dead.
Because a license agreement with Morris Mohawk gaming is set to expire, Bodog will take their services elsewhere. While this decision makes a lot of people angry, at the same time we have to understand that they are doing this in order to preserve themselves and not in spite of the US poker players who have supported them for a while now.
Moving out of the US not only opens them up to new opportunities, but it also keeps them out of our government’s line of fire. Because at this point no one really knows when the next government crack-down is going to occur. The company is moving to the UK where gambling, especially of the internet variety, is much more commonly accepted. We thank Bodog for their service and wish them the best in the UK, we will be patiently awaiting their return.
Moving Forward
In the next coming days and weeks we will keep all of our readers informed as to what exactly is going on with Merge. Their return date is not set in stone as of yet, but further details are expected to be released this week.
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Merge Network to Allow US Sign-Ups
August 11th, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
Within A Week
Back in June the Merge network announced that it would be shutting its doors to new US sign-ups because of all the turmoil surrounding the poker industry in the US. But unlike major sites like PokerStars and Ultimate Bet, the Merge Network pulled out of the US by choice. Everyone involved in the situation had the original thought that this would only be a temporary move and it looks as if we were right.
Pulling out of the US came as a surprise because sites on the Merge Network were doing well in light of all the strife that other sites were facing. Unfortunately, the high traffic volume flowing to these sites created some very inconvenient delays in the payout process. And since there were payout delays of almost two weeks, the Merge Network decided it would not longer accept US players flocking to them from other sites. Now with the news of a reopening in the industry, we are hoping that payout delays no longer exist and that poker players will be satisfied.
Merge is not the biggest network around, but with the fallout of Black Friday they are being held as one of the best places to play in the US. It is reported as being the 10th biggest poker network on the internet today. Bodog is a close second to Merge with traffic volumes that are slightly smaller.
Merge plays host to great poker sites like Lock and Carbon Poker. We hope that within the week US players will be able to sign up and cash out on all Merge Network sites. In fact, Merge site Sportsbook.com started accepting players from the US again 2 days ago.
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Lock Poker Makes New Signings
July 23rd, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
Chris Moorman
Lock Poker recently announced that it would be making additions to its team, LockPRO Elite. The additions would be two UK poker superstars. The first one of them is Chris Moorman. After an impressive run at the 2011 WSOP, Moorman gained a lot of attention. In this year’s World Series he came away with over $1 million in prize money. And on top of that he is ranked as being one of the 5 best players at this year’s WSOP. This isn’t Moorman’s first online sponsorship either, before this he was sponsored by Doyles Room which has subsequently been shut down by the US government. He is dominant both on and off line, this is evident in his lifetime winnings which exceed $7 million.
Nicky Evans
Being the lesser known of the two, Nicky Evans’ career has not been quite as illustrious as Moorman’s. But in his defense, he has only been playing poker for about half a decade now and is still fairly new to the game both on and off line. What is most impressive is that in only these few years, his total winnings are already scary close to the $1 million mark.
Evans and Moorman look to add a great deal of versatility to the Team LockPRO Elite. Moorman can bring a lot of experience to the table while Evans is in the midst of becoming a rising star. The future looks bright for both of these young players and even brighter for Lock Poker.
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Less Promotions
June 6th, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
Recently Absent
Promotions that are not sign up bonuses have been few and far between lately. Granted the sites that usually offered the best promotions most frequently have not been allowed to offer US players their services for almost two months now. PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute, and Ultimate Bet were the 4 biggest names in US online poker, and since they were ceased and shut down in the US, the poker industry has suffered, to say the least. But with all of the other sites, it is confusing to a lot of people as to why they have not been offering nice promotions for players who have been with them for a while.
On almost every site that still accepts US players there are nice sign up bonuses. For instance, Lock Poker announced that at the beginning of the month of June they would be ending all rakeback, but as an incentive to sign up before June arrived they said that if you signed up before the deadline, rakeback for those players would continue as normal. This deal made players flock to the site before it was too late. Since “Black friday” sign-up bonuses have been the big deal because so many players had to sign up on new sites, but the regular running promotions have been few and far in between.
Hurting Industry
I think another contributing factor to the recent downfall of promotions is the fact that most every site that is still accepting US players is more worried abou not getting indicted than they are about giving players promotions. In these turbulent times one wrong step can put a poker site out of business. And because the industry is so hotly hawked over, poker sites have less time to create and market nice bonuses.
As things begin to settle down, if things settle down, I would expect to see things go back to normal. When the Government turns down the heat, it will give poker sites the ability to make some great promotions. The main problem in that lies within knowing when this whole ordeal and fall out from “Black Friday” will end. Until every last player is refunded you can expect this to be a top news story indefinitely.
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Merge Temporarily Disallowing New US Players
June 3rd, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
New Day, Same Story
This is a theme that many of us have learned to come and accept recently, another site not allowing US players to play poker. Merge Gaming decided that it is in its best interest to, starting today, not allow any new US players on to their site. Players who have registered as of yesterday and any other day before that will still be able to play just like they normally do. Of course players from outside the US will still be able to play normally as well.
Some of the sites that are on the Merge Network include: Lock Poker, Carbon Poker, RPM Poker, Hero Poker, Overbet Poker, Felt Stars, GR88 Poker, Poker Nordica, PDC Poker, and Iron Duke.
This comes shortly after the Merge Network ended rakeback on June 1st. Because of the rakeback ending, the Merge Network saw a large influx of players, they saw a good amount of players sign on to a variety of different sites.
Flying Under the Radar
With the recent influx of signups and the stellar 76% traffic increase since “Black Friday” has been giving the Merge Network a lot of attention recently. And in today’s online poker world in the US, attention may not be the best thing. But the real reason that Merge is ending new sign-ups is because all of this recent activity has backlogged payment processors. The temporary break in allowing new US players is simply to give Merge some time to get everything sorted out.
Reports say that new US players WILL be allowed to sign up at some point in the future, but Merge has yet to announce the date. To some, this is not that great of an excuse but most people believe that Merge is really trying to stay out of the line of fire of the US Department of Justice. And as it is obvious that this angers people, it really is a smart decision for Merge and will more than likely keep them out of trouble.
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WSOP 2011
June 1st, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
42nd Annual
With everyone laying their focus on all of the activity regarding “Black Friday” some might have almost forgotten that the 2011 World Series of Poker started yesterday, May 31st. Thousands of people make their yearly journey to Las Vegas to either watch or participate. Most people think that, because of “Black Friday” the attendance will be down significantly his year but event organizers seem to disagree. With the events of “Black Friday”, many people were forced to stop playing poker all together and in turn might be driving more people to Las Vegas to play live games.
The Series will be held at the Rio Casino and will sport 380 poker tables to accomodate all of the gaming activity. There are a total of 58 bracelet events and poker games running 24 hours a day.
The Main Event starts on July 7th and nine finalists will have been determined by that time. But people have to wait until November until the Main Event tournament champion is decided. You can still register for events in the WSOP, the only requirement being that you register 2 weeks in advance. The tournament is a great atmosphere with the inter-mingling of pros and amateurs, and the constant action is like nothing you have ever seen before.
Rising Stars
Names like Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute who used to be dominant in all areas of the game may need to take a back seat to some of the newer teams with their new signings. Lock Poker and their recent signings are going to look to make a major impact on the poker scene. It is still a question as to how players from PokerStars and Full Tilt are going to be received at the tournament after their sponsoring sites have let millions of people down.
This year is very different for a lot of reasons, and you can expect a few new stars to make a name for themselves in this year’s tournament. Lock Poker’s team is the one to watch out for, recent signings have made them a formidable force to be reckoned with.
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Bodog Moves From .com to .eu
June 1st, 2011 by Kyle Silverberg
No Need to Fear
Recently, Bodog announced that it would be making the move from being known as Bodog.com to Bodog.eu. Of course as soon as anyone close to the online poker community hears this their first thoughts are that Bodog is the next site to vacate the US market. But this is not the case as Bodog reassured their American players that they will continue to play normally. The move to a .eu address was, according to them, a way to help them expand into new markets. With all the turmoil recently it is not too rash to think that they are making this move as a preventative type of thing.
Bodog is one of the most respected names left standing in the US market after the collapse of poker on “Black Friday.” If they were to leave the market, online poker would suffer even more than it already has.
Poker Today
Currently, sites like Carbon Poker, Lock Poker, and Bodog are the three main names when it comes to playing online poker in the US. Before April 15th, those three names were PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker. Barely a month and a half later and the entire shape of online poker in the US has changed. Sites like Bodog and Carbon Poker, who used to be secondary sites, are now on the forefront of online poker in the US. Thanks to sites like them US players still have somewhere to go.
The sites are thankful too because they are seeing US player traffic like they never could have even imagined. It is literally an overnight success story for some of these smaller sites. You can see how well they are doing by the actions they are taking. For instance, Lock Poker has been signing pros out the wazoo in hopes that their pro team can make a lasting impact in the poker community, especially with the 2011 WSOP having just started yesterday.
Like always, bad news for some is good news for others, and for sites like Bodog, they have been hearing a lot of good news lately.
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