Malta Gaming Commission Singles out Lock Poker
Lock Poker is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission which is based just outside of Montreal and is a skin of the Merge Poker Network. The poker site has been singled out by the Malta Gaming Commission who has accused it of displaying the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) of Malta seal of approval when they have not, in fact, been approved by the authority. The Malta Gaming Authority has denied having anything to do with Lock Poker.
The statement on the LGA website entitled, "Lockpoker.eu is not licensed by the LGA" says it all. The statement goes on to say that the poker room "has no connection whatsoever with the Authority and therefore any mention of the Authority or license issue by the Authority on the mentioned website is false and misleading."
The LGA urged all players to "play responsibly with companies licensed by jurisdictions that have sound remote gambling regulations."
The Malta Gaming Commission issues four different types of licenses. The first three types are for gambling sites that have operators that provide software solutions to host services and player management. The fourth type of category is not associated with player management, but is rather for platform operators who manage other remote gaming operators. This is the type of license that is held by the Merge Gaming Network, to which Lock Poker is affiliated.
Lock Poker Angers Malta Gaming Commission
In the wake of Black Friday, when a number of major online poker rooms were seized by the FBI, many American professional poker players have moved to Canada in an effort to continue to pursue their professional poker careers. Licensed by the Canadian-based Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Lock Poker is a popular online poker room on the Merge Gaming Network. It is joined by skins such as Black Chip Poker, Overbet Poker and Hero Poker.
Interestingly, the other skins on the network also display the seal of approval from the Malta Gaming Commission, although they have not been singled out for doing so. Only Lock Poker has bared the brunt of the LGA and Malta Gaming Commission's displeasure over the use of the seal of approval.
