Of the documented cashout problems, a player going by the moniker IHasTehNutz has been the most vocal about his dissolution with Lock Poker on the forums. His “cashout report” now includes at least 265 players who have all waited more than two months – some approximately one year – for withdrawals to be completed by Lock. To be exact, there are 177 players who have not been paid more than six months since their requests for funds, 12 players have been waiting more than 300 days and two have surpassed the year mark.
According to IHasTehNutz, more than $700,000 is owed to players on his list, all of them having shown proof of their cashout requests.
What Does the Lock Say?
In a word, nothing. Sites that have contacted Shane Bridges, Lock Poker’s social media correspondent, have not received responses. In fact, he no longer posts on the Internet forums. That option was shut down several months ago in favor of players corresponding only on the Lock Poker site. However, those who have not received their payouts have not been given any substantial responses regarding their money.
The professional poker players associated with Lock have also been quiet on the subject. Some like Chris Moorman and Paul Volpe long ago disassociated themselves with the site and ended their sponsorships. Others like Annette Obrestad, Eric Lynch, and Felipe Ramos continue to promote Lock Poker despite the player complaints.
Hopes Dashed
On October 29, Lock Poker announced that it was leaving the Revolution Gaming Network and launching its own site on a proprietary software platform. At that time, the Lock spokesperson told Pokerfuse that a new cashier had been rolled out and other improvements would be available in the “coming month” to improve cashout times for players. The company said that “numerous and ongoing breaches of contract by the network operator” caused problems and spurred the move.
Just when players believed that the move may help with their pending withdrawals and trust issues with Lock Poker going forward, a war of words broke out between Lock and Revolution. The latter told Pokerfuse that it, “Tried very hard to help Lock work through its problems with slow withdrawals to players.” In the end, though, they said, “Due to lack of payment to the Network and a large growing debt, the Network had no choice but to eventually segregate Lock players almost entirely from Network cash games.” Lock’s spokesperson declared those statements false and defamatory.
Regardless, players continue to wait for their money. Several months since the Lock Poker separation from Revolution, there have been no significant improvements regarding cashouts. In fact, many players report that communication is even tougher since that time. And as 2014 begins, they still wait for their rightful funds.
