Ridgerunner, you made my night. Great find!!!

These were the folks behind the DoylesRoom (now ACR) "Blue Monday" indictment.

Cashouts should be faster accross the board, don't get me wrong.

I am honestly baffled however that there's people who are honestly surprised a company would treat their biggest customers well. Isn't that what essentially happens at every poker site? Rake more, get a VIP level higher = get more rakeback = prefferential treatment because now you're paying less for the service.

A business buying a product in big bulks? Discount.

Honestly i could name loads more examples if u want, but i think you get my point. Does it really surprise you?

That being said, i don't know about the Pro's ofcourse, it's definately possible they indeed do get the same treatment aswell then, i really don't know.

the issue is not you mcormick , the issue is how bad lock treats its reg players with 5-6 mo0nths payouts, not sure why they have these problems. everyone should be a vip and get paid in 2 months.
I mean why are these players on lowest rung to get cash out. Did they post a bad comment , quit playing at lock or make jen or shane mad why this has took so long, or did they just hope they would forget. There is a problem here that needs fixing so this doe not happen to others I don't see them trying to fix this when they act as if this is not a problem. how do these players fall thru the cracks and don't get paid.

It doesn't surprise me cause it is Lock and they are more than likely broke and need to pay guys like you fast to stay afloat and it prob helps that you have been a big supporter of theirs too.

Of course on sites with VIP etc guys get bigger rewards for the more they play. BUT NOT CASHOUTS!! Every site I have ever played on has paid people the same more or less and that includes EUROS I have staked on multiple sites and networks.

If they can only afford to pay their highest rakers in a promo and can't pay other ROW players in a week or less than that points to one thing----- THEY DONT HAVE THE MONEY

It's the same reason they paid affiliates quickly. They need deposits to pay guys like you to keep the site afloat

Just be wary, one of these days when they go down your money will be next.

Well, no disparity in cashout times on those sites, because quite simply, those sites don't have the same cashout issues probably.. not much value in specifically spending time on constantly looking out to cash out some specific people some hours or maybe a day or 2 faster.

The rest of your post.. I do agree if they indeed do have liquidity issues then that's all likely correct.

because they have money to pay ROW

Do you find it odd that every ROW withdraw method on lock takes multiple months instead of multiple days

I grabbed my ear buds and plugged them in before clicking the link. Yeh I feel dumb. What an interview.

I have no problems with anyone personally on these forums, but I can see why so many people have their issues with you. You come across as a complete self-absorbed prick. Your bolded sentence above sums it up. Like seriously, one person says something and that's how defensive you become and the direction you take it?

You need to realize that there's a difference between preferential treatment and isolated treatment. We aren't getting paid at all. Not just slower, but AT ALL. If you win the promotions, you're right, you're going to get preferential treatment, like with any company. And I have no problem with you being paid out quicker. But that means if it takes you 1 month to get paid, isn't it enough favoritism if everyone else were to get paid out in say 2 months? How about 3 months? No? 4? Because I'm beyond 4 months at this point. Do you expect people to be elated every time you remind us of your "preferential" treatment?

Again, if they pay us out slower, fine. But slower than you doesn't have to mean 6 months. I've waited my turn. In fact, I've waited probably 4 of your turns in my 1 already. Can you see why that's a problem and BEYOND the notion of preferential treatment?

If you have 2 children and assuming they are both equal in "being good", it's preferential treatment if one of your children gets better Christmas presents than the other. It's a serious issue when one of them receives nothing at all.

Please, continue being the child getting the gifts while reminding us.

The main, most important question (and I am glad it was asked) is:

"What is the reason for the slow withdrawal times?"

The only answer for ROW players is:

"we uncovered a money laundering ring that created a network of mule accounts that were buying and cashing out players' bankrolls with no play. This caused a massive increase in withdrawals causing legitimate players' cash outs to be delayed. "

How should that have any impact on the payment time for ROW players if the company in fact has money on hand to cover player deposits? Here is a comparison. Black Friday caused a *really* massive increase in withdrawals for Poker Stars. Yet they were still able to pay everyone pretty much immediately (once the DOJ said they could).

The site clearly doesn't have the money on hand to pay people. People "abusing" transfers to withdraw their money using this method was probably due to the ridiculous wait times in the first place.

What a bull **** interview. All I know is that I really will start contacting the people I know who work at the DOJ if I haven't received my cash out by the 1st of June.

very interesting read

I never understood why this is a problem. If players $$ are segregated, why does it matter if it is one big mule account or ten players requesting a cashout? Can someone explain this to me (other than Lock doesn't have the funds)?

Because if the issue truely is processing issues, then these people their cashouts are slowing down your legitimate cashout as an actual player. The queue gets bigger, simple.

Edit: actually, since normally the guy buying your funds and cashing out for all intends and purposes replaces your cashout, that actually doesn't seem to make sense. **** knows then.. :/

I do guess though that once a backlog got created, having these people cash out constantly can't help the backlog in any way.

i cant follow this thinking i want to cash out i know of the long wait time so i trade instead so its the same amount of funds that would be cashed out any way. not only that but its to less players to boot. Unless you think players enjoy 50 cents on the dollar. The amount requested would be the same or close to it.

Landlords don't pay back security deposits based on who they like better, or who paid on time more often.

They pay it back based on WHEN the person moved out. And because the money is in trust accounts, it doesn't effect the landlord at all financially.

See how my analogy is way better then yours?

Yep, agreed. See my edited part which you quoted aswell.

Truth is, we can make a thousand anologies, but in the end this is going to be a matter of opinion no matter what.

I can see why a poker site would reward high rakers, i'm sure you can agree. Whether that should be in the form of faster cashouts aswell as the already higher RB (due to VIP levels) is another question ofcourse.

Even if a "backlog" creates slower paid out requests, why are we seeing NO payouts? As I've already stated in other threads, the people who are waiting 4-7 months should have been paid out, regardless of what happened from February-May. You're telling me that a backlog of payouts NOW, is causing issues for paying out the original requests from 4-7 months ago? How on Earth can that be possible? Only 1 possible answer, and that's Lock doesn't have the money. What's even more absurd is that they're not using current rake $ to payout the players waiting that long.

Every single thread always finds it way to this subject and as I've stated, there is absolutely no reason why the people who should be in the front of this "backlogged" line haven't been paid out yet. You don't suddenly reach a certain amount of backlogged withdrawals and then declare NO ONE to be paid out. How on Earth would they ever get back on track? This withdrawal line isn't getting any shorter if you don't pay people, unless you know Witchcraft or Voodoo magic that I'm not aware of. It's basic common sense of shortening a line for anything. They know that very well, and I can't imagine the amount of requests in # or $ at this point ever being resolved anytime soon.

I think it'd be really scary if we at 2+2 were to tally up our pending requests and found out the total amount in number and $.

Agreed. As others have suggested, it might be an idea to cancel and re-request the cashout in many cases. Whether these payouts got "lost" somewhere, or it's some sort of stalling/scamming tactic altogether is anyone's guess. If it's a simple "decision" to start paying out people in the front first, then that's very simply an unfair one, but i do get how that one would make some sense from a business point of view: they give new players the perception (and well to be fair, it then is reality) that the cashout times are fine. After all, if you try cash out now, you will get it somewhat timely. (whether it'll hold up is another thing ofcourse)

Has ANY US player gotten their money back recently?
I put a couple of hundred dollars on a while back and have a few thousand on the site now.

So Lock would want to jeopardize it's entire customer base by trying to replace all of their loyal customers with new ones? This makes absolutely ZERO SENSE from a business point of view. No way would new players be playing for the same stakes and with the same rolls as the old players. No way is Lock making nearly as much in rake as before, nor will they be in the near future with whatever small amount of new money is coming in. Lock is attempting (for however long) to get away with declaring the old player funds as "dead money" and only valuing new money that comes in (money that Lock has a chance at not mis-handling this time).

Not all of us can cancel our cashouts btw. I don't expect you or anyone else to keep up with my personal cashout, but mine was a 01/06 max WU. After 3 months of waiting (with back and forth emails), in early April, Lock made me cancel it (due to them getting the Sender blacklisted) and made me request a check as my only option (despite me telling them that I didn't want to because my last check from them 17 months ago had bounced). They wouldn't even let me re-submit a WU withdrawal, I was forced to request a check. Shane also had his hands directly in this process and helped assure me via email. I've been quite polite to their support, while simultaneously reminding them that their answers are still unacceptable at this point. I've also shared my story on their facebook page and asked for assistance. I haven't been ignored via e-mail at all, but is that my consolation prize? Am I a real winner for not being ignored via e-mail as some have?

Until you know what it's like to wait 3+ months or so, you won't fully understand the frustration. Even when I was waiting for 2 months, that's NOTHING. When I reached 120 days (a third of a year) I reached this new level of emotion, one of disbelief almost. Your suggestions and advice are easier said than done. I just hope you understand that while you can sympathize, you cannot empathize at all if you aren't waiting as long as most of us.

I'm not sure I understand where anyone could think this article was all that informative. The DOJ plug has been used time and time again - and while it's a legitimate concern, brandying it about as though every possible third party processor has been contacted and instantly shriveled into a ball and ran away is patently absurd.

The fact that this "large group of players" who were "abusing the P2P transfer policy" never gets a number attached to it is another red herring. It's a tactic, pure and simple. And while I don't doubt some people helped themselves to some trading and straight cashing out, by not putting any sort of general number out there in reference to those committing such a heinous act, you instantly lose credibility on the subject.

Let me get this straight. The "large group" of "mule" account persons are being used as a reason for cashout delays. This investigation, by the way, took place "over the last few weeks", as though the cashout issues have only been around since the middle of April. Cashout times when I first started playing on Lock back in July of 2012 were 3-5 weeks for WU and two months for checks, and those were lengthy waiting times in of themselves. So where was this investigative notion in September last year? October? December? Are people really just now engaging in this activity, frothing at the mouth of making 66% on their money with projected 4-6 month wait times? Again, credibility here is almost less than nil. And if your number one priority is supposedly "reducing payout times over the next few weeks", you would be buying up GDMP or Netspend codes, or Walmart gift cards, or do something...anything similar, and immediately giving them to those who have waited for their payments since before the clock struck 2013 - even if their cashouts are "in the queue". Eat the loss, cancel the checks, write it off. However you term it, it's the least you can do. It won't bankrupt you and it would be a huge win in your column from the online community.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have read of all I've seen from this fiasco. Thank the good Lord above the very few sites out there like Intertops, which is on Revolution, doesn't engage in Lock's infamously insipid promotions, grandiose growth strategies, in trying to sign a bunch of professional players and giving away bounties on them (or lavishly wining/dining them and sponsorships). This idea that ramming marketing down people's throats makes them loyal to your brand is about 15-20 years out of date. While true that marketing is essential and branding in today's world is no easy feat, you lose credibility once again by being "aggressive" in your marketing to attract the new, mostly uninformed players while remaining docile on maintaining relations with those who play and pay rake to your company. A little humility can go a long way, even in today's shark eat shark world. Not every successful business is run with the mantra that "people are sheep and idiots, so let's just bombard them and they'll eventually line our pockets". It's disingenuous and amazingly transparent.

That statement alone completely mystifies me as someone who is laying the groundwork to start their own business. Any confusion and misinformation, on any subject, can be easily defended against and repaired. It's called proper customer service and public relations. And by giving this "interview" to someone who is either directly or indirectly associated with you only reinforces the fact that Lock and their representatives have no idea how to treat their customers properly. If this was pretty much any other industry, Lock would be long out of business. The sad thing is that they know it, too.

Planning for "the worst"...or any and all contingencies, good and bad, is a simple and well-taught part of owning or operating any business. Being real with people goes a long way. Pulling a Tiger Woods "cheating on wife" press conference-type move (the staged reporters, camera angles, and recited speech/apology - remember how well that went for Tiger in the public eye) simply indicates to those who are able to decipher through blatant BS that you could care less about the real people who are affected by your company's inane administrations.

And finally, despite this fact, in lieu of the 2013 that Lock has had, this was still a terrible move. Again, the fact that it was paid for, announced, and budgeted is beside the point. An ample opportunity to at the very least avoid further public scrutiny and outrage, if not showing people that you really cared about their issues with Lock. Here's a simple thought - cancel it. Save a little money. Even if some or most of the cost was embedded and irretrievable, you could have stood to gain a lot more in the minds of the online poker community. And you can belittle this community all you like - but this isn't 1996, when the internet was limited to colleges, schools, a few scattered homes and businesses, and underground UFO watchers. It's 2013, and anyone with a smart phone, computer, tablet, or friend that has one (which basically includes most of the civilized world) can find out all they want to know about Lock Poker by pulling up Google and having at it. And what's among the first four links that pops up when that someone types in "Lock Poker issues", as it were? Aside from Lock's website (and I'd bet anyone who's dealt with online support in other areas of consumerism knows to do a tiny bit of research before going straight to the source - and would definitely do so after speaking with Lock's group), 2+2 is right there, along with other forums. Which leads beautifully into this last quote.

Never is a very strong word.

This article is a sham, given by an Lock insider and answered by someone clearly not wanting or caring to answer actual questions with real answers.

But then again, the truth might be more damaging. We have to sit here and speculate about that, thanks chiefly to Lock's inability to do simple and basic things that smart and successful business do. So in all actuality, Lock's continuing to fan the flames regarding their demise themselves.

Part 2 of the interview is up now:

Gambling911.com continues its interview with Lock Poker CEO Jennifer Larson, who addresses the departure status of two pros. Additionally, Ms. Larson responds to concerns over Lock’s communications process, which she describes as a “work in progress”.

In case you missed Part I of this interview, you can find it here.

G911: What is the situation with Lock Pros leaving? Both Chris Moorman and Paul Volpe announced their departures.

Jennifer Larson: Over the years our Pro team has continuously evolved. This is part of the natural progression when building a solid Pro team. It is one of the most important initiatives to me personally. Most of the team has been with me for several years. The timing of Chris Moorman leaving was not a part of any conspiracy. His contract was up for renewal and we parted ways. Chris is one of my favourite players and people. Paul Volpe was also with me from very early days and I have the upmost respect for him both personally and professionally. It was just a timing issue and the spin doctors ran with it. In the next year you will see some big changes in the Pro initiative. We will be introducing a new Pro tier as well as the LockPRO Live team gracing the live circuit.

G911: I think despite any issues Lock Poker may be encountering at the moment, the one common theme we at Gambling911.com are hearing relates to the lack of or poor communication from customer service reps when it comes to addressing common concerns. So my question to you is, what is Lock doing to address improvements in customer service aspects of the business (i.e. training, new hires, protocol, etc…)?

Jennifer Larson: Lock has worked hard at improving customer service over the past 2 years. We have built out multiple teams around the world. Because our growth was virtually overnight, we had to put in some infrastructure in order to handle the massive increase in player emails and calls. Over the last 10 months we have moved our average email response from 48 hours to within 15 minutes and we offer live chat during our peak hours. This is a constant work in progress as we grow the goal is not not only to build out teams but develop efficient internal communication so support can provide our players with clear, concise information.

G911: There was some mention that Lock may have had money tied up in Cyprus banks and this rumour appears to have snowballed. Can you confirm to us that this is not the case?

Jennifer Larson: Lock has never done any banking in Cyprus, so the recent events there had no impact whatsoever on our operations.

G911: Some have said that if player-to-player (or p2p) transfers are such a burden, why even offer them? Is this an option that might be eliminated once processing issues are fully resolved?

Jennifer Larson: P2P transfers are such a huge part of what supports the network of online poker players around the world. Player staking is a very large business and we wanted to respect that. It has definitely opened us up to a tremendous amount of abuse but our philosophy has always been to take care of our players. Our business is driven by this philosophy so we were trying to find a compromise for the players' benefit.

G911: Some say you are giving away the shop with such extravagant bonuses, etc… Are these promos sustainable in the long run?

Jennifer Larson: Lock has always been very aggressive when it comes to player rewards. We have made a very calculated decision to invest in what we believe is the backbone of our success: the players. I have been in this industry for 10+ years and I have often seen other brands spending millions on banner advertising, "branding" initiatives and other marketing campaigns that offer little to no value to the players. This has not been our approach, which is why we can afford to be more generous. It is just about how you spend your money and what your priorities are. Our player lifetime value is much higher than most operators because of how we reward and value our players.

G911: What would you say to those players who insist Lock is a so-called “ponzi scheme” or another Full Tilt Poker, which went out of business for a year before being resurrected by PokerStars. To this day, however, US players are still owed money, now going on over two years.

Jennifer Larson: Lock has been in business for over 6 years and from Day One our mandate was to put our players first. In the face of all of the trials and tribulations we have forged through achieving incredible growth and success. This has admittedly been a difficult year for us but that should not negate everything we have accomplished. I think because of my direct involvement and hands-on approach, people have somewhere to direct their irrational hatred. It is clear that the sites that consider themselves "news" sites are just focused on the fear they can incite with every article rather than actually reporting on anything true or valuable. Instead of respecting the industry that supports them, they are driving it into a fearful frenzy. This needs to change.

The FTP and UB debacles created a very intense level of anger, mistrust and fear. Because people lost so much overnight with very little warning it ripped the heart right out of this industry and planted a deep seed of doubt. Being one of the few operators to serve the US market we have become a target for all that anger. When faced with any problems that have an impact on players the uproar from the community is fierce and ugly. Instead of seeing operators as their allies, which is what we are, we are seen as the enemy. I am a person of action and few words but with the level of propaganda and media manipulation that has been mindlessly regurgitated, I decided to speak up and clear the air.

Lock is determined to be the best and first choice for players worldwide. Lock Gaming Group profits are being re-invested to grow and improve both our casino and poker business.

Why is there no mention of fair play? Also why isn't the topic being brought up what is being done to improve the cashouts? Both of these have devastated your company, your numbers are shrinking, your overlays are increasing, and this is just making people think you don't have the cash. Overlays don't matter if your not cashing anyone out.

Chris, well done. Those are all good questions.

The last answer she gave was the most disingenuous pile of garbage I've ever read from a CEO. Without saying it directly because why be a human being when you can be a condescending buffoon, she intimates that we, the 2+2 community and others like it, and the "media" (you mean the people who write unbiased articles based on the insipid things you and your company do?) are to blame for public perception of her company.

To think I used to be quite a defender of Lock. I won't play one more moment or give one more penny in rake or play to Lock as long as this waste of human skin is in charge.

Good job, Jen. You're a real winner. Hope you and your mighty pro initiative get exactly what you deserve.