by Mario Alfonsi | Published on May 8, 2012 | Updated on May 8, 2012Lock Poker has been one of the largest and most independent rooms on the Merge Gaming Network for some time now. The room had built an impressive team of sponsored professionals, and had even offered some interesting promotions that were specific only to their site. Now, Lock has decided the time as come to leave the Merge Network entirely, staking out on its own to build their own online poker empire.That’s the news from Lock Poker officials today, as they’ve officially announced their plans to leave Merge. The change should have little immediate impact on Lock’s players, as the site had already implemented their own independent cashier system. A move that was described as “seamless” will take place on May 31 in the form of a routine software update.“Merge was a great stepping stone for us, but we have outgrown them,” said Lock Poker CEO Jennifer Larson. “We really need to forge our own path to continued success. The only way to do this is to stay true to our core philosophy: partnering with our players.”The news didn’t stop with Lock’s defection from Merge, though. Lock has also confirmed that they are in the process of acquiring the Cake Poker Network, with plans to rebrand that network as Revolution Gaming beginning at the end of May.“We are very excited at the prospect of driving the product, marketing, and overall vision of the network,” Larson said.While Cake Poker is a mid-sized poker network, it ranks as the third-largest network still accepting American players in the world. Although exact figures from Lock Poker alone are not publically available, they will likely take a significant chunk of the Merge Gaming Network’s player based with them to what will now be Revolution Gaming, which should make the new network a major player in the USA market.Cake Poker has announced that operations at the sites on their network should be unaffected by the purchase. Players should notice no differences other than the rebranding of the network.
