In its most recent controversy, Lock Poker sent emails to several players stating that withdrawals have been cancelled and that player-to-player transfer funds were no longer eligible to be withdrawn. Originally, the site required players to have a 1:1 play through requirement for transferred funds before utilizing the withdrawal functions. Violators of the service agreement policy were assessed a 15% penalty on the transfer. However, the policy was arbitrarily changed to a no withdrawal policy last week.

Lock Representative Shane stated that this new policy for transfers was “due to an influx of players abusing transfer tool solely for bulk withdrawals, negatively impacting withdrawal times for actual players.” He continued by stating that this policy was targeted at players who were withdrawing funds after a player-to-player transfer with minimal play. The representative also stated that Lock was taking this measure to prevent fake affiliates from driving down transfer values and slowing withdrawal times by purchasing large amounts of player funds.

In spite of the Lock representative’s claims, players have claimed that his statements were false and accused the site of controversial practices. A reputable poster, theJuggernaut, stated that his withdrawal of nearly five figures was cancelled even though he had raked thousands of dollars from this particular transfer. Furthermore, players have accused Lock of preventing transfers and withdrawals to benefit the site. Withdrawals and transfers would essentially lead to less money and less rake being circulated on the site.

The height of the controversy eventually led TwoPlusTwo CEO Mason Malmuth to contact Lock Representatives to address the worsening situation. After the conversation, Malmuth posted that Lock Poker officials were working towards answering all concerns and implementing new policies to facilitate withdrawals and transfers. Furthermore, Malmuth announced that TwoPlusTwo forums were banning Lock Poker advertisements until the issue was resolved to the satisfaction of the TwoPlusTwo community.

In response to angered players and Malmuth’s conversation, Lock Poker officially changed its transfer and withdrawal policy. Representative Shane Bridges stated that the site was implementing a 15% Gross Gambling Revenue policy that would require players to rake a minimum of 15% of the transferred money before cashing out the particular sum.

Despite this move to temporarily appease players, Lock Poker has lost the trust and support of its players as evidenced by the reactions on the Lock centered forum on TwoPlusTwo.

The entire situation has led poker players to call out Lock Poker professionals including celebrities such as Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Annette Obrestad. In a show of solidarity, MTT professionals Chris Moorman and Paul Volpe announced that they would not be renewing their sponsorship contracts with the site. Their pictures were removed from the Lock Pro section immediately.

Some players have even taken extreme measures to call out the owner of Lock Poker, Jennifer Larson. A TwoPlusTwo thread has officially threatened to send Jennifer Larson to the Department of Justice.

Nevertheless, Lock Poker has been on a sliding mountain since its launch of the Revolution Network in the United States black market. The embattled site has been dealing with payment processing issues for several months and have angered players over these transaction policies. Most Lock Poker withdrawals were given a 10 week time table, but several players have claimed that they have been waiting months for cash outs that most likely total in the mid six figures.

The unfriendly withdrawal times have led to the creation of Lock Poker trade market. Several players have been selling funds for as low as 50c on the dollar in order to part ways with the embattled site. This poker economy was the primary reason for the recent cancellation for withdrawals. However, poker players have blamed Lock Poker for creating such a trade market given the long wait for cash outs.

In addition to the withdrawal controversy, Lock Poker recently implemented a player segregation policy at stakes higher than $100NL ($0.50/$1) in order to improve player ecology. This new policy unfortunately backfired for the site as many players did not have many tables to choose from on the site.

With United States legislation on the horizon, Lock Poker and its Revolution Network seem to be close to becoming obsolete. At one point, the Revolution Network held the top spot for United States facing online poker websites. After months of controversy, the Bovada (Bodog) online poker site has taken the top spot with Revolution slipping to second place.

Players around the world have voiced their concerns over the policies of the network and the ability to pay out respective balances. Several players have even jested by taking proposition bets on the solvency of Lock Poker.

Lock Representatives have promised to solve the underlying issues over the next month. For now, the players remain unsatisfied and cheated by the actions and policies of this embattled site.