Abstract: A method and system are provided for managing processor resources in a multi-threaded processor. When attempting to acquire a lock on a shared resource, an initial test is conducted to determine if there is a lock address for the shared resource in a lock table. If it is determined that the address is in the lock table, the lock is in use by another thread. Processor resources associated with the lock requesting thread are mitigated so that processor resources may focus on the lock holding thread prior to the requesting thread spinning on the lock. Processor resources are assigned to the threads based upon the assigned priorities, thereby allowing the processor to allocate more resources to a thread assigned a high priority and fewer resources to a thread assigned a low priority.