Rumors circulating around the online poker world on Sunday have the Merge Gaming Network site Lock Poker acquiring the Cake Poker Network. When asked whether there was any truth behind the rumors, a Lock Poker representative told PocketFives on Sunday, “I cannot comment right now, but I can say that we will be putting an official press release out this week.” PocketFives has learned that the press release Lock alluded to is due out on Monday.

An article on Gambling911 speculated that Lock Poker would be purchasing the entire Cake Poker Network, as opposed to just Cake Poker itself, and vacating the Merge Gaming Network. Whether the combined Lock and Cake network would be called Lock Poker, Cake Poker, or something entirely different remains to be seen. Our source at Lock Poker did not comment on the future of Lock’s brand.

Gambling911 reported that Lock would be “re-branding the [Cake Poker Network], driving technology, marketing, player rewards, implementing a more aggressive tournament schedule, and incorporating a new company philosophy, essentially restructuring the entire Cake Poker Network.” An e-mail sent from PocketFives to Cake Poker seeking comment was not returned at press time.

The original poster in a PocketFives threadshared his alleged inside information: “Had a Lock pro tell me Cake and Lock are merging, or Cake is buying them? Said this was all going down in June.”

In response to the thread in the Poker Sites forum speculating that Cake could be acquiring Lock, our source stated, “Cake is definitely not buying Lock. We currently represent 40% of the traffic on Merge, we are the largest room on Merge, and have been for the past five months.” Other Merge sites include Hero Poker and Carbon Poker.

According to the traffic ranking site PokerScout, the Merge Gaming Network’s cash game traffic is up 6% year-over-year to a seven-day running average of 1,640 players. PokerStars, Full Tilt, and UB leaving the U.S. market on Black Friday helped increase its relevance, as Merge continues to accept American players.

The failed Lock Ops tournament series could have been a catalyst for the rumored jump to Cake. On April 23rd, Lock Poker officials Tweeted, “We are sad to announce that Merge has officially canceled Lock Ops and revoked previous approval given to Lock to run the series.” A visit to the Lock Ops website on LockPoker.eu reveals text that says, “Lock Ops: Coming Fall 2012.” The series was originally scheduled for May 6 to 20.

We should point out that PocketFives does not recommend playing online poker on sites offering rake-based games in the United States like Lock Poker and Cake Poker. Your money may be at risk. We feel more comfortable at this time recommending no-rake sites such as HogWild Poker.

Stay tuned to PocketFives for more on this developing story.