Departure of Top Pros Latest Blow to Lock Poker

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Thursday, May 9th, 2013 | Written by Shane Larson

The Lock Poker Pro team is down by two, as Chris Moorman and Paul Volpe have both publicly stated that they’ve ended their formal relationship with the beleaguered online poker site.

Chris Moorman is a significant departure for the online poker site. Moorman is one of the best-known players in the history of online poker tournaments. His signing was seen as a major coup for Lock, and especially beneficial to the room’s ambitions to become a top-tier online poker tournament destination.

Paul Volpe is perhaps the lesser-known of the two players. An American poker pro, Volpe has amassed over $3m in tournament earnings across his live and online successes.

Nothing is known about the terms of their departure from Lock. One assumes Lock’s recent problems served as the motivation for exit in both cases.

As has become more or less the norm in the online poker community, both made the announcement via their Twitter accounts:

1/2 also wanted to say i have left @lockpoker . wanted to thank them 4 giving me the opportunity. hope poker becomes legal and they can

— paul volpe (@paulgees81) May 8, 2013

resolve all the issues that there having.

— paul volpe (@paulgees81) May 8, 2013

1/2 I have decided not to renew my contract with Lock. I sincerely hope Lock is able to overcome its current problems and…

— Chris Moorman (@Moorman1) May 7, 2013

2/2 for the sake of online poker their situation is resolved.

— Chris Moorman (@Moorman1) May 7, 2013

While Lock struggles under the weight of these and other challenges, other options remain for American players – options not suffering from the banking difficulties that have drawn so much ire from online poker players. Visit this guide to US online poker for a current, updated list of American-friendly online poker sites.

While these two pros are no longer at Lock, players can be forgiven for not noticing much of a change in the overall size of the Lock Poker professional roster. Well over a dozen names remain officially attached to Lock Poker. Among them are two players that are well-known to both fans of online poker and followers of the live poker circuit: Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and Annette Obrestad.

Mizrachi made his mainstream name in poker with a string of impressive WSOP performances, including an unprecedented back-to-back run the the HORSE event. Obrestad’s fame came more gradually online, where she began as a teenage phenom and gained notoriety for playing an entire tournament without ever looking at her cards – and winning despite that handicap.

Pressure has been building on Lock Poker pros from Twitter, media sites and poker discussion forums, with players – often angrily – calling for answers from those who have chosen to endorse the room. It should be noted that no additional information emerged from the departure of Moorman and Volpe – as you saw above, both went with a rather economical style for their announcement, leaving players knowing no more about the status of their funds at Lock Poker than they did before the public resignations.

Lock Poker’s future is further clouded by the progression of online poker regulation in the United States, which threatens to shrink the demand for offshore sites like Lock. Just last week, the first fully-regulated American online poker site launched in Nevada. And with other states looking to quickly follow behind, Lock could soon be at risk of losing one of its biggest advantages as an online poker room.