Zynga loses Poker veteran Laurence 'Lo' Toney

Over the past several months, many top Zynga executives have jumped ship from the major social game company, and that trend continued today, as AllThingsD reports that Zynga Poker veteran Laurence "Lo" Toney has stepped down from his position. While working at Zynga, Toney spent two years as the general manager of Zynga Poker, one of the company's oldest and most successful franchises. He later went on to become a general manager of mobile, where he helped guide the company's publishing efforts on iOS and Android. Toney also played a major role in driving the company's push towards real-money gambling. Zynga's been pursuing that market for quite some time, and the company hopes that online gambling games will help it recover from its ongoing financial troubles. Toney told AllThingsD that he isn't sure what he'll be doing next. Regardless, his sudden departure certainly doesn't come as a surprise given the number of top Zynga employees that have stepped down of late. Since July 25, the company has lost more than 14 other major executives, including Words With Friends creators Paul and David Bettner.