A press release distributed by Lock Poker earlier today officially acknowledged that Lock Poker is in the process of buying the Cake Poker Network. Lock Poker announced that it is in the process of purchasing the Cake Poker Network and all its assets. In place of both networks, Lock Poker will create a new poker network called Revolution Gaming on June 1st.
Lock Poker has seen significant growth lately and this announcement shows that Lock Poker is ready to blaze its own trail in online poker. As we reported earlier, Lock Poker was forced to cancel the LOCKOPS tournament series at the behest of the Merge Gaming Network. The cancellation of the tournament was a major disappointment and a testament to Lock Poker outgrowing its roots on Merge Gaming.
Current Lock Poker players will notice nothing different until a software upgrade on May 31st. After that, players will continue with their account balances and VIP points intact on the new network. Lock also mentioned that it will continue to use its own cashier to keep withdrawals fast and dependable.
Lock Poker, Merge Gaming and the Cake Network are some of the last remaining US-friendly poker operations in existence today. Lock Poker has built a solid reputation, but Cake Poker has been struggling lately. This move is most likely a good one for both Cake and Lock.
The purchase is also a good development for players. This will create more competition in the struggling US poker market. The Merge Gaming Network has done a fine job serving US players, but now we’ll have another competing force in the market. Players will have more options and hopefully these options will all continue to offer a strong product.
The biggest remaining question is what will happen with the Cake Poker Network. Rumors have it that poker sites on the Cake Network will continue to operate as normal on the new Revolution Gaming network. Lock Poker has a reputable history so I feel pretty confident that the change will be a good one for Cake players as well.
