Online poker pro Eric “Rizen” Lynch, a Guest Columnist here on Poker News Daily, has formed a partnership with Lock Poker. The move comes with the onset of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.
Lynch is likely to don a Lock Poker logo throughout the tournament series. The site, which makes its home on the Cake Poker Network, hosted the Bluff Online Poker Challenge in March. The month-long contest asked contestants to turn $200 in seed money into as much money as possible. At the end of the day, Brian “SNo0oWMAN” Hastings topped the field with $25,000. Lynch also participated, finishing in sixth with a little over $400. He told Poker News Daily, “Being a part of the Bluff Online Poker Challenge started the relationship. It allowed me to see who Lock Poker was. If they just came out of the blue and started talking to me, things might have been much different. After getting a chance to work with them, pursuing a partnership made a lot of sense.”
Lynch becomes the first pro to sign with Lock Poker, which accepts players from the United States. As such, expect a bevy of promotions surrounding him to be rolled out on the Cake Poker Network site. On what made Lock Poker his choice to sign with, Lynch explained, “One of the things that’s exciting about Lock Poker is that they have a real focus on players. They want to be one of the best sites out there. If you don’t set lofty goals, you’re never going to get there. Everyone I’ve spoken to is enthusiastic and knows what they’re talking about.” Lynch is an instructor at the training site PokerXFactor.com and is also a father of two.
Many will remember Lynch’s deep run in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. He finished in 24th place and earned a healthy $494,000 for his efforts. The 8,773 player tournament was ultimately won by Jamie Gold, who banked $12 million. Lynch finished as the runner up to Scott “BigRiskky” Clements in a $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament during the 2007 WSOP, taking home $119,000. All told, he has over $800,000 in earnings from WSOP events.
On how partnering with Lock Poker will affect his other endeavors, he told Poker News Daily, “I’m still going to be working for PokerXFactor, writing for Bluff Magazine, and doing everything else I do. The majority of my play, particularly in cash games, will be focused on Lock Poker.”
According to traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network ranks as the 10th largest worldwide in terms of cash game volume with a seven-day running average of 1,640 real money ring game players. Its 24 hour peak is nearly 2,400 and at the time of writing, which is mid-morning Eastern Time, 1,235 cash game players are seated at its virtual tables. Besides its namesake and Lock Poker, other rooms on the Cake Poker Network include Doyle’s Room, Players Only, Poker Host, Poker World, and Sportsbook.com. It is the fourth largest network to accept U.S. players, trailing only PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and CEREUS, which consists of the merged player bases of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker.
Lynch told Poker News Daily that he plans to be an advocate for the players in his new post with Lock Poker. He noted, “They’re really going to look to me for input in the changes they’ll make. A lot of sites focus on what they can do from a technical standpoint, whereas during the Bluff Online Poker Challenge, Lock Poker showed me they were really focused on what they could do to make the player experience as great as possible.” In April, Lynch took second place in a $215 Pot Limit Omaha Cubed (one rebuy plus one add-on) event during the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) for $47,000. He also has a win in the PokerStars $1 Million Guaranteed for $156,000.
A special thanks to Eric “Rizen” Lynch for joining us. Sign up for Lock Poker today.
What has this guy won lately? He was desparate for ANY sponsor.