Last week, Lock Poker and the Cake Poker Network announced that Lock was in the process of acquiring the Cake Poker Network and rebranding as the Revolution Network. On that day they promised big changes. With today's announcement they have delivered. Effective June 1st, rakeback on the network will be increasing from 33% to 36%. All other rakeback terms will remain the same.

The new 36% dealt rate will apply to both existing and new players of all Cake Poker Network sites. The new rakeback rates will not eat into affiliate commissions. Margins will remain the same that they were under pre-June commissions.

The 36% rate puts the Cake Poker Network near the top of the rakeback range, especially for larger networks, surpassing the standard 27-35% rates of most other sites. On the Merge Gaming Network, Lock Poker offered 35% rakeback until June of 2011. Rakeback is not currently allowed on the Merge Gaming Network but is still available for players that signed up through a rakeback site prior to June of 2011.

As stated, only player rates will be changing. The Cake Poker Network will continue to be one of the few poker networks under the dealt rake calculation system, which many rakeback players prefer, especially those that play a tighter game. Payment dates will remain the same. At Cake Poker, for example, players are paid rakeback every Thursday for rake generated during the previous Wednesday through Tuesday period. There are no deductions to rakeback, although affiliates do receive deductions to their commissions for items such as bonuses.

Stay tuned to PAS for the latest information on Lock Poker's migration to the Cake Poker Network.

Tags: cake poker, lock poker, merge gaming, rakeback

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‎ Poker Gaming , ‎ Poker Industry News , ‎ PAS News

Update 5/14: Our Titan Poker rep has informed us that Titan Poker has made this move in hopes of obtaining a license in the Spanish market.

On Thursday morning PAS received word that Titan Poker will no longer accept new depositors from Spain ahead of the Spanish market opening up on June 1st. The move will affect Titan brands Titan Poker, Titan Casino and Titan Bet. Interestingly, another Europartners brand, Mansion Poker will apparently continue to accept new depositors from Spain.

Titan Poker is one of the most popular and recognizable poker rooms on the iPoker network, frequently referred to as the flagship brand of the network. Unlike fellow iPoker heavyweights William Hill, Genting and Betfred, Titan Poker has no brick and mortar presence. In addition to their popular .com room, Titan Poker also currently holds a French license, operating on the iPoker.fr network as Titan.fr.

According to Pokerfuse, 40 license operators are believed to have applied for licenses in Spain. Poker brands thought to be on the list include PokerStars, Party Poker and Ladbrokes. Other poker rooms such as Unibet, Bodog and Microgaming have already opted out of the new market, which is thought to rival the ring fenced markets of Italy and France.

We will update this post when we have more information on the specifics of Titan Poker's latest move.

Tags: ipoker, spain, titan poker

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‎ Poker Gaming , ‎ Poker Industry News

Over the weekend, reports began to surface that Lock Poker was in the process of acquiring the Cake Poker Network. This morning Lock Poker released a press release confirming the news by announcing the network would be rebranded to Revolution Gaming on May 31st.

In a separate statement Cake Gaming confirmed they were in the process of selling "selected assets to Lock Poker. They went on to say "Cake is excited about the benefits this deal will offer all of its partners and players, including increased player rewards, a richer tournament schedule and new product features. "

The Cake Poker poker room is not a part of the deal and will continue to operate as a separate poker room. Lock Poker currently makes their home on the Merge Gaming Network and attracts poker pros such as Annette Obrestad and Chris Moorman.

We will be sure to keep PAS publishers on any developments and how the news affects them.

London, UK - May 7th, 2012 - Lock Poker Launches Revolution Gaming. The future of Online Poker.

As of June 1st a whole new world awaits the Lock Nation.

Lock is in the process of acquiring assets from Cake and will be re-branding the Cake Network to launch Revolution Gaming, driving technology, marketing, player rewards and implementing a richer tournament schedule. The LockPRO team will be at the foundation of these changes. They will come together and offer their recommendations on all levels, truly bringing the player into the boardroom.

To all existing Lock players this move will be seamless - it will take the form of a simple software update happening on May 31st. You will login to find your real money balance as well as everything else you know and love about Lock. Lock will also continue to manage their own stand-alone cashier so withdrawals will be as fast and easy as they are now. All players' current player VIP rewards will only increase and all rakeback players will be moved over to the increased percentage on Revolution. More details coming soon.

Get ready for the exciting new times ahead as we continue to drive the new era where the player reigns.

"We are very excited at the prospect of driving the product, marketing and overall vision of the network. It is a dream come true," says Jennifer Larson, CEO of Lock. "Merge was a great stepping stone for us but we have outgrown them. We really need to forge our own path to continued success. The only way to do this is to stay true to our of core philosophy: partnering with our players."

Tags: cake poker, lock poker, merge gaming

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‎ Poker Industry News

A relatively slow week in news saw no additional public statements from Full Tilt or PokerStars. Meanwhile in the non-US market, Unibet leaves Spain and Schleswig-Holstein awards three new licenses. Check out these stories and more in the Weekly Industry Update.

Schleswing-Holstein Issues Three Licences : Ther German state of Schleswig-Holstein has awarded three online gambling license in preperation for their regulated market. Betfair, mybet and the state lottery were the three named. Additional licenses are expected to be issued in the coming weeks. Betfair commented on the approval by stating it was a significant positive, especially when some have been doubted the company's capacity to receive licenses outside the United Kingdom.

Unibet Pulls Out of Spain Regulated online poker is coming to Spain and with that comes poker sites pulling out of the market in hopes of staying within the rules and being considered for a future license. In February, various Microgaming sites and then Bodog decided to pull out of Spanish market. Now comes word that Unibet will be pulling out of Spain on May 14th and transferring players to PAF, which is on the Ongame Network. Players will have up to 30 months to withdraw their funds. Major poker sites such as PokerStars, Party Poker and iPoker have continued to service the Spanish market while being considered for the regulated market.

Full Tilt Poker/Poker Stars News Quiet All was quiet after a dramatic week that saw the GBT deal fall through and PokerStars take over as most likely suitor for Full Tilt Poker. One interesting piece to come out over the last week was an article from Diamond Flush Poker detailing how Groupe Bernard Tapie may have plans to follow through with a launch of an online poker site this year.

In a leaked email to key Pocket Kings staff explaining the the collapse of the Full Tilt Poker, Larent Tapie stated "I have decided to devote a significant portion of the funds that I was planning to use for the acquisition of the FTP assets instead to launch my own company, under the auspices of Game Cubed, the company I have created in Ireland." He continues by stating he would like to launch the new website in 6-7 months but only do so if all of the Pocket Kings staff accompany him.

PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic was down again last week 0.4%, according to PokerScout. Traffic has now been down in 11 out of the last 12 weeks. PokerStars was a notable gainer while IGT was the notable loser down 8%.

Jottings: Twoplustwo forum could come back online May 12th...iPoker revenue drops...PPA continues fight for poker...Antigua online gambling dispute wages on...Latest on the regulation of online poker in the US...A look at fast fold online poker options...PPA's Rich Muny discusses how tribes can benefit from federal legislation.

Tags: betfair, full tilt poker, germany, poker stars, spain, unibet, weekly update

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‎ Poker Industry News

The PAS Exclusive Promotions for the month of May have now been posted in the forum. Check out a full list of the $300,000 plus in exclusive promotions here. Often when there are new promotions introduced, there can be some confusion so I wanted to explain some of the newer promotions in a bit more depth.

Party Poker Tournament Fever Series:

The Party Poker Tournament Fever Series is back for a third round. The first event will be held on May 8th, and like the previous Fever Series events, will be a mix of No Limit Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud. What's different this month is that two of the events will award WSOP entries to the top 4 finishers. Event #6 (May 15th) and Event #9 (May 20th) will award 1 $750 WSOP Satellite entry and 3 $80 WSOP Satellite Qualifiers.

All events will either be $500 freerolls or will add $500-$1,000 to the prize pool. A $8,000 Tournament Fever Series Leaderboard will award top Leaderboard Point earners over the 13 events.

A full schedule will be posted shortly on PAS.

Party Poker Tournament Fever Series Event #13

Event #13 is a new twist on the Tournament Fever Series and something you should begin promoting to your Party Poker players. The tournament is a $4,000 freeroll only open to the top 100 Party Point earners from May 1st to May 22nd. Of course, this presents an advantage for any player in the Tournament Fever Series leaderboard, so make sure your higher volume players are aware of this promotion.

Party Poker $10 Free Tournament Ticket

The first 200 first time depositors will receive $10 in tournament dollars to be used on any multi-table tournament on Party Poker. The buy-in Tournament Fever series events present a great opportunity for players to use these tickets.

Supplies are limited so make sure your players are aware of this ticket opportunity to encourage deposits.

Poker Heaven €5,000 Rake Race

After a month absence, the Poker Heaven €5,000 Rake Race returns. Paying cash prizes of
€20 to €800 to the top 50 rakers, this race has been relatively easy for players to place. Players must opt-in to the Player Zone to participate. This exclusive €5,000 Rake Race will compliment the €5,000 standard races running on Poker Heaven from May 7th-May 11th, May 14th-18th and May 21st-25th.

Cake Poker $60,000 Rake Race

For the last two months Cake Poker has offered a $100,000 standard points race. We're pleased to report that the $60,000 exclusive Rake Race is back for May. The leaderboard will be split into $15,000 weekly races running from May 1st-8th, May 8th-15th, May 15th-22nd and May 22nd-30th.

If you have any questions about any of these promotions, please don't hesitate to post them in our forum.

Tags: cake poker, party poker, pas promotions, poker heaven

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‎ Poker Industry News , ‎ PAS News