UPDATE – Lock Poker owes players over $936,000 and the average payout time is 272 days. Some players have been waiting over a year to receive their withdraws, but they keep taking player deposits. Unfortunately the LockPoker.eu poker room is operating their business as a scam. It’s a shame, because it was a great room a few years ago and had great potential. If you like money, don’t deposit a penny at Lock Poker
If you are new to online poker, chances are that you may not have heard of Lock Poker. It is one of the smaller online poker rooms but is growing very quickly. Lock Poker is one of the few sites still open to the American market, which gives it an inherent leg up on the competition. It is a member of the Merge Poker network, based in the Isle of Man, and is regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
Lock Poker offers a wide variety of games, from the most popular to the lesser known game types: Texas holdem, Omaha, Omaha hi lo, 5 card stud, 5 card draw, 5 card joker, 7 card stud, 7 card stud hi lo, Ace to 5 lowball, Deuce to 7 lowball, Razz, Badugi, Triple draw, and HORSE. The stakes available are pretty good as well, ranging from $0.01/$0.02 to $50/$100. Only the highest of the high stakes are not available, so if you fit in that category a site like PokerStars or Party Poker may be your best bet.
Lock Poker Bonuses
Lock Poker has one of the best initial deposit bonuses you will find among all of the online poker sites. They will give you a 150 % match up to $750 on your first deposit, which makes Lock Poker very appealing. The bonus must be cleared by playing in real money tournaments and cash games and earning VIP points. It will clear at a rate of $1 per 75 VIP points that you earn and will be released in increments of $5.
Bonus Code: LOCK150 – 150% up to $750
Unfortunately, the initial deposit bonus is currently the only bonus available at Lock Poker. There is no reload bonus or Refer a Friend program, so making the best of the deposit bonus is crucial.
Software
The software at Lock Poker is pretty nice, as is most of the software on the Merge network. It is quick and reliable, which is obviously very important to online poker with so much money at stake. The lobby is easy to navigate, meaning that you should not have any trouble finding the right games. The lobby along with the tables and the rest of the poker client also look good, which makes playing a long session very easy to do.
Lock Poker has both Mac and Windows compatible software, so everyone can get into the action. Unfortunately there is no Instant Play option that allows you to play in your web browser, but the Mac download option makes it not as important. One thing that separates Lock Poker from many of the small poker rooms is the ability to play on as many tables as you want.
Competition
The players at Lock Poker are generally fairly weak, thanks in part to the Lock Casino. The Merge network is known for its soft competition, and Lock Poker is one of many rooms to inherit them. However, as one of a few sites that still allow U.S. players, it will be interesting to see if the games get tougher as the former PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker players move in. Obviously the lower the stakes the softer the player pool, so the games will get tougher as you move into the medium and high stakes.
Tournaments
Lock Poker has a smaller tournament selection than some of the biggest rooms, but is still very competitive. However, this also means that there are fewer players to compete against and therefore more of a tournament overlay. You will also have better chances of placing in the money in a big guaranteed tournament.
The guaranteed tournaments on the weekends are the largest offered at Lock Poker. Every Saturday is the $12,500 Guaranteed, which takes place at 1 PM ET with a buy in of $33. On Sunday at 3 PM, the $50,000 Guaranteed takes place with a buy in of $109. Guaranteed tournaments also run around the clock on weekdays with over $97,000 to play for on a daily basis.
Summary
It can be difficult to decide on which poker site you can trust with your money. Lock Poker looks to be one of the best options these days, especially for American players. It is hard to beat the outstanding deposit bonus here, as well as the nice software and good player base.