Poker Update – The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has had its hands full lately in combating Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling as well as assisting players in the Full Tilt remission process. However, the grassroots organization working on behalf of poker players has found the time to take on a new cause – namely, the payment processing deficiencies of Lock Poker.
The PPA yesterday sent a letter to Lock Poker representatives demanding answers regarding the room’s payment processing procedures and the glacial speed in which many cashouts are processed. Directed to “The Owners, Officers and Managers of Lock Poker,” the letter cites the “substantial number of complaints” that the PPA has received from its members regarding the “unreasonable” length of time taken for players to obtain their requested withdrawals.
Lock has long been known as a site that is extremely tardy in facilitating payments to players – if at all. The situation has forced some players to, in the words of the PPA letter, “sell their funds on Lock Poker on the secondary market for substantially less than the face value.”
The PPA points out that Lock Poker support informs new depositors that the time frame of withdrawal requests is in the neighborhood of 8-10 weeks. However, a thread at online poker forum 2 + 2 has been inundated with posters who can attest to the fact that payout times are way beyond that promised time frame, with some players having waited over a year.
A huge part of the problem remains Lock Poker’s inability to effectively communicate with regard to the concerns of players, responding to player inquiries “with canned emails or emails that simply state the request is ‘still in processing.'” In hopes of resolving that dilemma, the PPA sent the letter to Lock affording the site “the opportunity to communicate its policies and situation.”
