Lock Poker's Continuing Problems

[NateVest]

Hmm, was thinking of signing up there, but I guess its not worth to try it...

Lock Poker Addresses New Player to Player Transfer Policy, Looks to Stamp Out Fraud
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Lock Poker recently came under fire for cracking down on some player to player transfers. The problem, according to Lock, some players are abusing the process.

Case in point: One supposed ?affiliate? repeatedly asked why his referrals were unable to cash out faster. The Lock Poker affiliate manager became suspicious of this ?affiliate?. Through extensive security protocol that cannot be revealed here for obvious reasons, Lock was able to determine that this ?affiliate? had actually created the multiple suspect accounts. The initial investigation revealed a large group of accounts directly connected to these initial accounts, further investigations then uncovered even more accounts linked to the same group.

?They were buying all funds for as cheap as they could get them at around 50 cents on the dollar,? explained Lock Poker rep, who spoke to Gambling911.com via the phone. ?They were buying across the site from as many people as they can for cheap so they could, then passing them through another account before passing them down and cashing out as the "affiliate" profit double every single time. In the worst of these cases the mule accounts weren't even logging in to use the software they were just trying to wash the transfers before sending them on."

Essentially this equates to money laundering, which is a crime in the real world.

?It?s not just that the funds in question were being bought cheap,? the company rep told Gambling911.com. ?The group were using their "affiliate" status to request multiple priority cashouts, all the while posing as individual cashouts that in reality were part of a syndicate. The ?affiliate? was basically pushing legitimate players to the back of the queue, resulting in longer wait times for valued Lock Poker customers.?

Those transferring funds to other players must adhere to a one time play through of their funds. This policy is typically waived for affiliates as they often send a large volume of new customers to the online poker room. This particular ?affiliate? was, in essence, attempting to circumvent the procedure.

As many Internet poker rooms are well aware, player to player transfers involve a substantial amount of fraud that is often perpetrated by credit card rings. It should be noted that Lock has not accused this particular individual of being part of such a ring.

The Lock rep tells G911 that their company pretty much follows the same policy of the world?s largest real money online poker room, PokerStars. You cannot cash out transferred funds at Stars. With Lock you have the ability to do so, however, such requests are excruciatingly reviewed by Lock?s security team. Affiliates can still cash out at Lock without a problem, provided of course that they are real affiliates.

?We are not trying to punish legitimate players or affiliates,? the rep said. ?We are just trying to stamp out those abusing the system, those trying to commit fraud.?

Ultimately, such policies are likely to spread across the board and we could soon see player to player transfers eliminated entirely industry wide.

Case in point, the majority of online sportsbooks have stopped offering player-to-player transfers, citing fraud, scamming and bitching on public message boards. Sportsbooks eventually began sharing information about suspect players amongst themselves, which helped significantly reduce fraud industry wide.

Lock would like to continue offering the player to player cash transfer option, however, Gambling911.com predicts that such transfers will ultimately become extinct like the dodo bird should public outcry grow more vocal.

It is interesting to note that, one week after Lock started their new player-to-player policy, the iPoker network halted all transfers.

This trend is bound to continue thanks to four or five bad apples ruining things for everyone else.

- Ace King, Gambling911.com

[NateVest]

Hmm, was thinking of signing up there, but I guess its not worth to try it...

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2013/0...ersy-14967.htm

Lock Poker has been the center of a major storm in the poker community of late. The online poker room, part of the U.S.-facing Revolution Network, has taken criticism for several months regarding a long wait period for cash-outs (up to five months for U.S. players) while offering very little information to its customers.
Late last month, the situation escalated when Lock implemented a new policy that forbade cash-outs for players who transferred money to and from other players on the site. Lock canceled withdrawal requests that had been lingering for months, providing players with the following explanation by email:
Please note that player transfers and winnings derived from player transfers are not eligible for payouts. If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.
The shocking development caused outrage from players who sought answers from site representatives and members of Lock Poker Elite Pro, a group of poker players who represent the company both online and at live tournaments around the world.
The sponsored players have since been fighting rumors that some of them were being paid six-figure annual salaries to represent the site and that they were given higher priority than customers in regard to payouts. In response, Paul Volpe and other Lock Poker Elite Pros said last week that they were forced to wait for withdrawals just like everyone else.
Meanwhile, a number of insiders are speculating that Lock Poker is insolvent and still accepting deposits from players. PokerNews has reached out to Lock Poker CEO Jennifer Larson for comment on the growing issues, but our attempts have gone unanswered.
As a result of the backlash from players, Lock Poker lost two of its sponsored pros on Wednesday as Volpe and Chris Moorman elected not to renew their contracts with the beleaguered poker site. Both players issued statements via Twitter to announce their departure.

Chris Moorman
@Moorman1
1/2 I have decided not to renew my contract with Lock. I sincerely hope Lock is able to overcome its current problems and...May 07 2013

Chris Moorman
@Moorman1
2/2 for the sake of online poker their situation is resolved.May 07 2013

paul volpe
@paulgees81
1/2 also wanted to say i have left @lockpoker . wanted to thank them 4 giving me the opportunity. hope poker becomes legal and they canMay 08 2013

paul volpe
@paulgees81
resolve all the issues that there having.May 08 2013
PokerNews' Rich Ryan caught up with Volpe on Thursday during the EPT Grand Final in Monaco to find out more. When asked what prompted him to leave Lock Poker, Volpe said: "I wasn't harassed or anything by them. I was never heavily involved."
He added, "I don't want to bash Lock, but if people aren't getting paid, then I don't want to be either."
While Moorman and Volpe ditched the site, several Lock Poker Elite Pro members have remained loyal to the brand. Melanie Weisner, Matt Stout and Brett Jungblut have spoken out about Lock's troubles in recent days via poker forums and social media sites. In a lengthy post at TwoPlusTwo.com on Friday, Weisner addressed the site's payment processing issues but claimed she has no input or knowledge of the site's financial situation.
"Despite our lack of involvement in the back-end of things, I know that all the pros have wanted to speak to the issue for some time, and have only waited this long in order to gather some real information about the current status of operations," Weisner said about the Lock Poker Elite Pro team on Friday. "We've spent a lot of time recently working on getting to the bottom of things. The entire Lock pro team met today in order to hash out all these issues and find solutions and information on what the future holds and what kind of improvements can be made, on what scale, and in what time frame."
Other members of the team like Michael Mizrachi and Annette Obrestad have been tight-lipped about their employer, but Obrestad was still seen donning a Lock Poker patch while playing the EPT Grand Final Main Event on Wednesday.


Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2013/0...ersy-14967.htm

[gpahren]

Since you can trade lock $$ for points here I would recommend doing that. Then use the points to either by Carbon gift cards or play in the Carbon freerolls.

[rghy2]

And this is why I won't deposit money on a site until poker is completely legal.

[wwwrungood]

Heard Chris Moorman was leaving Lock because of their problems. When these pros step away from it, its a good warning sign that the site will go down too.

[face5674]

makes me not even want to play freerolls there

[BradysDad]

Chris Moorman and Paul Volpe Cease Representing Lock Poker

Moorman and Volpe leave lock! I don't think there is any more positive spin they can put on this, the wheels have come off

[DuckU408]

yeah baby, one win for the good guys, pokersite is a bunch of thieves.

[2sweet247]

I just don't like Lock. I had it for a few days (2) cause I had to redeem money there. After my money was gone so was Lock from my computer

[royalpat]

wow unbelieveable how poeple manipulate systems and ruint for us