May 07 2012, Brett Collson

On Monday morning, Lock Poker announced that it will be purchasing the assets of the Cake Poker Network, a move that will ultimately see Lock leave the Merge Gaming Network.

According to a press release sent to PokerNews, Lock Poker will re-brand the Cake Network and launch a new network called Revolution Gaming on June 1, 2012. The new network will be aimed at “driving technology, marketing, player rewards and implementing a richer tournament schedule.”

The LockPRO ELITE team, made up of poker pros like Annette Obrestad, Melanie Weisner and Chris Moorman, will work together to ensure that the specified changes are enforced to create a better environment for players.

Existing players at Lock Poker will have a smooth transition to the new network when it opens on June 1. The new software will become available on May 31, and players will find their real-money balances and VIP points right where they left them in the Lock Cashier.

“We are very excited at the prospect of driving the product, marketing and overall vision of the network. It is a dream come true,” said Lock Poker CEO Jennifer Larson. “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.”

The loss of Lock will be a massive blow to the Merge Gaming Network which has increased its online traffic by more than 5 percent over this time last year, according to PokerScout.com. Lock Poker claims that it is the largest skin on the Merge Network, accounting for 40 percent of Merge’s traffic.

The two sides clashed last month when Merge canceled the LockOps tournament series available only to Lock Poker players. Merge had originally given Lock Poker the green light to run the 33-event schedule with $2 million in guarantees, but the network pulled the plug on April 23 without any clarification.

PokerNews will continue to follow this story as more information becomes available. Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook now!

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May 05 2012, Chad Holloway

The 2011-2012 World Series of Poker Circuit continued this past week with the second-to-last stop of the season, Harrah’s Philadelphia. That stop’s Main Event begins on Saturday, May 5, so we thought it’d be a good idea to recap the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Philadelphia action thus far.

One notable event was Event #5: $555 No-Limit Hold’em, which drew 134 players and created a prize pool of $64,505. That event saw circuit regular Katherine “Kat” Bowen, an owner of an Internet service provider from Gladewater, Texas, make the trip to the East Coast in an attempt to earn more points toward the National Championship.

It was a wise decision as she soon found herself at the final table, where some superb play made her one of the final two players left with a slight chip lead over Steven Skowrownski, a 27-year-old poker pro from Indiana. In the final hand, Skowrownski was all in preflop holding and in bad shape against the of Bowen. The board ran out nine-high and Bowen captured her first WSOP Circuit gold ring and the $18,197 first-place prize.

“This has been a really great experience and this is my first Gold Ring so you can’t beat that,” Bowen said after the win.

Prior to he win, Bowen had amassed 77.5 points on the WSOP Circuit, meaning the additional 50 awarded to her for the win will no doubt be enough to qualify her for this year’s National Championship.

Here’s a look at the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Philadelphia events completed thus far: