There’s big news coming from the Merge Gaming Network site Lock Poker. Eric “Rizen” Lynch has been promoted to Poker Room Manager of the popular site, which first gained a foothold in the industry by hosting the Bluff Online Poker Challenge in early 2009.
Lynch is one of the veterans of the poker world. He has a victory in the PokerStars $1 Million Guaranteed and a UB.com Online Championship, or UBOC, title under his belt. On PocketFives.com, he’s claimed a Triple Crown title and has captured victory in a Monthly PLB race.
In the live world, this author can remember Lynch’s deep run in the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. We had dinner with the new Poker Room Manager of Lock Poker during the $10,000 buy-in tournament, played keno, and discussed life as an American family man. Lynch is one of the most down to Earth players we know and landed in 24th in the Main Event that year for nearly $500,000. He outlasted most of the largest WSOP field ever assembled at 8,773 players in a tournament that saw Jamie Gold bank $12 million for the win.
One month prior to his Main Event run, Lynch finished third in a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event for $104,00. Rafe Furst ultimately came away with the bracelet in that contest and banked $345,000. In 2007, Lynch made another deep run in a WSOP tournament, this time taking second to Scott “BigRiskky” Clements in a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament for $119,000.
Lynch commented in a press release distributed by Lock Poker on Monday, “I am personally looking forward not only to the opportunity to continue to work with the outstanding Lock Pro team, but also to interact with the Lock players and really explore what we can do to improve on all levels. My dream has been to really get involved in the daily operations and have a serious impact on how things are done. I’m excited to have the opportunity to bring my unique insight as a professional poker player to the table to help Lock continue to innovate.”
Along with Jon “PearlJammer” Turner and Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet, Lynch authored “Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume I” in 2008 and followed it up with “Volume II” last year. He’s contributed a wealth of articles to PocketFives.com, including “Cash Games Versus Multi-Table Tournaments,” “Moving Beyond Harrington,” and “Spotting and Attacking Weakness in Online Poker.”
According to the same Lock Poker press release, Lynch will be charged with “driving all decisions around the product, promotions, and player communication.” Other pros of Lock Poker include Brett “gank” Jungblut, Lee Childs, Matt “All In At 420” Stout, Joseph “JOEYTHEB” Brooks, and WSOP bracelet winner Jason Young.
Lock Poker makes its home on the USA-friendly Merge Gaming Network, which weighs in as the 24th largest worldwide, with a seven-day running average of 820 real money ring game players according to PokerScout.com. Other member sites include Carbon Poker, Poker Host, and Poker Nordica. Merge is the fourth largest network to take players from the United States and has its headquarters in Australia.
Lock Poker also incorporates Sharkscope into its software, which it launched in December. A representative of Sharkscope commented in a press release announcing the addition, “Players will be able to track their tournaments results, examine their statistics in great detail, and find new ways of increasing their profits, all directly on the Lock Poker site.” The Sharkscope integration is one-of-a-kind in the poker industry.
Visit Lock Poker to play with Lynch and company today.
