Current bankroll (10/14/2006):
$414
Sitting on the sidelines to see how this absurd new law pans out.
New Computer Gear
I haven't done any research lately to see how online poker is fairing since the law went into effect. I've been so buzy with other things going on that I haven't really thought about poker at all. It's amazing how as soon as you stop doing something that is taking a decent amount of your time, other things seem to fill the gap pretty quickly.
Since I'm not really sure when I'll start playing again, and when I do I can always start a new bankroll, I bought a 22" widescreen LCD monitor (Samsung 225BW) with part of my poker winnings:
Too bad I didn't have it when I was playing poker. At the native resolution of 1680x1050, you could easily play 4 screens with no overlap. I found that although my overall winrate dropped a bit, my winnings per session went up when I multi-screened, and I was clearing bonuses faster. Depending on what's going on in the poker world today, this may or may not matter.
Also, my wife bought me a 15.4" widescreen Compaq laptop for Christmas. Combined with the new monitor, I could be a poker playing fool. Or maybe more of a poker playing fool. In any case...
While I'm talking computer gear, I stumbled upon a nice article that
tells how to clean spyware from a computer. Since I'm always downloading new tools and gadgets, fighting spyware seems to be a losing battle. If you find that your computer isn't running as fast as it used to, you might want to check this out.
Done with Poker for Now
What a ride. I logged onto Paradise Poker and saw the announcement that they would stop deposits from the US and eventually stop real money play:
Unfortunately, on Friday October 13th President Bush is expected to sign into law the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The legislation is designed to restrict Americans from being able to fund their online poker accounts and in doing so to prevent Americans from participating in one of their national past times. Full details of the legislation can be found on pages 213-234 at the following link: http://www.rules.house.gov/109_2nd/text/hr4954cr/hr49543_portscr.pdf
Paradise Poker, as part of the SportingBet PLC group of companies, is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and is obligated to act in accordance with the new legislation. After much deliberation, our Legal Team has advised that in order to comply with the new legislation Paradise Poker will be required to stop accepting deposits from all US players. In addition we will no longer be able to offer US players the ability to transfer funds to each other using the ‘Send Money To Player’ function or to transfer funds to Sportsbook.com.
Please be assured that all US customers will continue to be able to access their accounts and submit cashout requests as normal. Although we will no longer be able to accept their additional deposits, to ensure a professional wind-down for our US customers, they will continue to be able to play at our real money tables with the funds they already have on deposit at Paradise until November 13th 2006. The only players that will not be able to continue playing at our real money tables are players located in one of the following states, where some form of online gambling legislation already exists:
- Utah
- Hawaii
- Michigan
- Indiana
- Oregon
- Nevada
- Washington
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- South Dakota
Please note that all players will no longer have access to our casino products or sports betting products. Any Paradise Poker players that have open bets at Sportsbook.com will have the bets cancelled and the funds, along with any other funds held at Sportsbook, transferred back to Paradise Poker. The funds will be transferred back to Paradise Poker within 12 hours.
We very much regret the unfortunate environment in the United States that has prompted us to take these steps. Should there be any positive changes regarding the legal landscape, we will certainly inform players immediately.
For those interested, we recommend visiting http://www.pokerplayersalliance.org/ , a group that has been organized to represent the rights and interests of American poker players.
We thank you very much for your patronage over the years and remain hopeful that the day will come when the U.S. will join much of the rest of the world in recognizing the sense behind regulating, rather than the prohibiting online poker.
That prompted me to check around with the other sites where I still had money. I still had $150 on Poker Stars (and it's business as usual for them), but the first $100 of that had to be cashed out through FirePay, and they've changed their policy:
SUBJECT: New FirePay policy for US account holders
On September 30, 2006, the United States Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
Once President Bush approves the Act. FirePay (www.firepay.com) will no longer allow US consumer payments for online gambling merchants.
- Beginning the day President Bush signs the Act, FirePay will decline any purchase transactions from US FirePay account holders at any gambling merchant site.
- Ten days after President Bush signs the Act, FirePay will decline any transfer attempt made by any online gambling merchant to a US FirePay account.
All US FirePay accounts holders will continue to be able to make purchases and receive payments from non-gambling, online merchants, as well as “Deposit From” and “Withdraw To” their US bank account.
Click here for the latest news and opportunities for FirePay account holders.
** Please note:
- This new policy will not affect FirePay account holders from outside of the United States
- For any questions regarding these deadlines or policy, please email info@firepay.com
Sincerely,
FirePay
info@firepay.com
So, after s good bit of thought, I decided to withdraw all of my active funds from Poker Stars and Paradise. I haven't decided what I'll do with the Neteller balance, but Firepay sent me my initial $100 deposit less a $10 processing fee (this must be new as well).
As it stands, my balance is $314 which is all winnings. I think I'll give poker a bit of a break and see what happens.
Home Game Results
I haven't played any limit poker yet this weekend, but I did play at another home game. These guys aren't that serious about the game, so there are always less players in the second tournament than are in the first one. One of them really enjoys bluffing, but last night he'd river what he needed when it mattered.
I lost the first game but broke even for the night when I came in second place in the second game. It was interesting in that I was very short-stacked and in last place early in the tournament. Although I never lost the honor of short stack at the table, the big stack kept putting the others out. The few times that I felt like I had to play (or get blinded out), I'd win and double or triple up.
Near the end of the tournament, I was in the big blind and only had enough chips for both the big blind and the small blind the next hand. The player on the button thought I was going to go all-in, so she did as well. I guess she didn't want the other player in, but he had her covered and called. When I folded, he put her out, I was shocked that I made it to second place.
I'll probably play some poker online this weekend, so I'll post the results tomorrow night.
I posted a few more pictures to my photography gallery today. If you haven't had a chance to visit, here's a sample:
The Paradise Poker saga continues
Results: 2 hours played; up $13
It's been a long time since I posted anything, but I haven't been playing as much limit poker as I should be playing to reach my goal. Instead, I've been playing small limit tournaments on Poker Stars, in live tournaments in the local casinos, and in home games. I'm even on Stars, but down quite a bit from the casinos (probably close to break-even overall counting the home games).
Over the weekend and again this evening, I did play some on
Paradise Poker in an attempt to start hacking away at the bonus there. It's been much easier to play the limit tables after playing in some big money (to me at least) tournaments. The bad beats don't sting quite as bad when it's only a couple dollars on the line.
I'd forgotten just how loose the games are on
Paradise. I've two-tabling the $.50/$1 games, and it seems like there's always someone calling down to the river hoping that his pair of fours will hold up to win the pot. I've tightened up quite a bit pre-flop and have started really betting aggressively when I have an edge. Of course I still get the occasional bad beat, but all that really does is cause bigger swings in the bankroll. It's still trending up, so eventually I'll hit my goal.
Tried a Casino Trip
Results: 3 hours played; down $5; $10 bonus cleared
My sessions today were a bit mixed. I played a total of three sessions and only pulled ahead because of the bonus. After playing, I looked at the Poker Tracker results, and I played correctly for most of the hands. However, I was still on a bit of tilt from last night.
Last night I went with a friend to a local casino of their Saturday night tournament. It was a $60 buy-in game, and there were 31 players (if I counted right) with the top 3 places paid.
I knew going in that both my friend and I had good chances going in, but we drew seats right next to each other. We tried not to go up against each other, so I would have rather been at another table. Eventually they moved me when another one got pretty short.
The short of the story is that I made it to the final table as the short stack. I fought off the blinds and won a few hands to make it to 5th place and busted out. My friend was the chip leader with two left and got sucked out when his flopped 2 pair (AAKK) lost to pocket 8's when an 8 hit on the river. He ended up with 2nd place for $465.
Looking back on the evening, I'm not sure if I played the last hand correctly. Before the hand, I had $8500 and the blinds were $1000/$2000. I drew 5c8c in the big blind. There was one limper pre-flop and the small blind called ($6000 in the pot).
The flop was 67T rainbow. The small blind, an aggressive better all night, bet $3000. The pot was offering me 3:1 for a 2.17:1 draw. However, just calling would have but me in a very bad positionwith $3500 chips left if I lost, so I went all in. The small blind called my raise, showed a ten, and ended up taking me out.
I thought about that hand all the way home, and don't know if I made the right move or not. If I'd folded, I could have lasted another 2 rounds and might have made it to the money; one other player was out right after I was. On the other hand, if the draw would have hit, I would have doubled-up and probably would have skated to 3rd place. Tough hand -- tough decision -- tough luck.
