Lockpoker.eu is not licensed by the LGA

Tuesday August 30, 2011  : No reason given for apparently discriminatory stance
 
Seemingly discriminatory action from the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) singling out Lock Poker has industry observers speculating on the reasons why.
 
A short statement posted on the Authority’s website distancing itself from Lock Poker reads:
 
"Lockpoker.eu is not licensed by the LGA
 
"The Lotteries and Gaming Authority (the ‘Authority') would like to inform the public that the website http://lockpoker.eu/  has no connection whatsoever with the Authority and therefore any mention of the Authority or licence issued by the Authority on the mentioned website is false and misleading.
 
"The Authority advises the public to play responsibly with companies licensed by jurisdictions that have sound remote gaming regulations."
 
Lock Poker is a skin on the Merge Gaming Network who was recently awarded a category 4 operating licence from the Authority.  A category 4 licence encompasses platform operators and software vendors "hosting and managing other remote gaming operators".
 
The online poker room along with other skins on the network Hero Poker, RPM Poker, OverBet, and Black Chip Poker now display the LGA logo in the footer of their websites presumably based on the fact that Merge had attained its LGA licence.  However only Lock Poker has been, for reasons unknown, publicly rebuffed by the Maltese authority.
 
One expects a statement to be forthcoming in the near future from either Lock Poker or the Merge Gaming Network clarifying the situation.