Prima Poker Network

If you are not playing on thePrima Pokeryou are losing out on a lot of money. The Prima Poker Network unites thousands of people playing Poker simultaneously at dozens of card rooms into a single group of players. Prima Poker Network is the largest online poker network in the world and includes such sites as Royal Vegas Poker, 7 Sultans Poker, Crazy Poker, bet365poker, River Belle Poker and about 29 other poker sites. Many of the poker sites are affiliated with an on-line casino. There is one downside because if you are from Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, or Wisconsin, you are not allowed to play at Prima Sites..

The best way to maximize the amount of money you can earn by playing the PokerSavvy or go to Poker Source Online and sign up for their points which you can refund for money or gift certificates or luxury items like an iPod. All you have to do is use the PokerSavvy link, download the site, stock it with a bit of cash and start playing raked hands. Most sites require you to play .25/.50 minimum tables and rake just 250 hands. Once you have completed the requirements then you notifiy Matt or Mark at PokerSavvy via the forum and within a few days your account will be credited the PokerSavvy Points. I have completed the bonus for 2 rooms so far, Royal Vegas Poker and River Belle Poker (and may have 7 Sultans done by the time you read this). I became a member of these poker rooms through PokerSavvy and I played the minimum number of raked hands (usually 250 raked hands) and banked 450 to 500 SavvyPoints (equivalent to $45 or $50 dollars). Plus I was a winning player at every site so far and not just a few dollars, at River Belle Poker I earned $97 dollars playing .25/.50 and .50/$1 Limit Holdem. And I did it in less than a week. At Royal Vegas I won a nice sum of around $50 dollars in the same time frame. I have flown through these sites as I am from Michigan and am not allowed on the sites. I try to clear the bonus as fast as I can and then I am out of there. So far it has worked. I think they run their software to find out where the players are from just once a week so I have been able to generate my raked hands before I get locked out.

I’m not going to sit here an say I win every time I play but I am a winning player overall at the Prima Sites and I am not that good folks. So it has to be the opposition. I can’t tell you how the play is in the evenings or how the play is on No Limit or Omaha or the other games offered. The SitNGos don’t get much action and the Multi Table Tournaments (MTTs) usually get a lot of players for the free rolls and the $1 entry tournaments. I am not sure about the number of players in the tournaments at the higher entry fees.

You are missing out on some Easy Money if you are not playing the PokerSavvy or Poker Source Online.

7 Days without Poker makes one Weak

Wanted to thank Ms. Wolverine (my daughter) for her guest post. It was a fun one with the google fight.
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Mrs. Wolverine and I had a nice relaxing five days on the Gulf of Mexico. It was very windy but all in all it was a nice vacation. We ate lots, drank a little and had a nice relaxing time together. Our most favorite stop was at Key West where we spend a couple of hours at Irish Kevin's drinking drafts and listening to Matt play all kinds of music from the Allman Brothers to Jimmy Buffet. We had a wonderful time.
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There was very little poker on the Enchanment of the Seas. One night they had $5/$10 No Limit Texas Holdem at a converted Blackjack table where six people sat side by side to play with the dealer behind the table. I never saw anyone playing. They had a MTT with a $50 dollar buy-in and it was held at the blackjack tables. I didn't play any of their poker and didn't miss it much at all.
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Since I have been home, I have been playing at 7Sultans and am doing well. I have raked 83 hands and won $30 dollars. I need to rake a total of 250 hands to get my 450 SavvyPoints and I am 1/3 of the way there so should have it done by middle of this week. After that I think I am going to do Nine Poker.

The GoogleFight Victor is...

GOLF!

I went to GoogleFight today and put in Golf and Poker. GoogleFight lets you enter in two keywords and shows how many hits each would have if you were to google it. The winner with 368,000,000 results was Golf. Poker came in with a grand total of 117,000,000 results.


Here are a few other results:


Holdem Poker had 4,580,000 results while Omaha Poker had 2,920,000 results.


British Open had 333,000,000 results while World Series of Poker had 9,040,000 results.


PartyPoker had 4,050,000 results while PokerStars had 2,300,000 results.


Phil Ivy had 1,240,000 results while Phil Helmuth had 857,000 results.


Try your own combinations. It's interesting.

See ya in a week

Mrs. Wolverine and I are going on a 5 day cruise so the blog will be on hiatus for a week while I soak up the sun and play some live poker (hopefully) on the ship, the Enchantment of the Seas. We are sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale to Key West, then Cozumel, then Cococay and back to Ft. Lauderdale. I am really looking forward to a lot of good food, good sun, and good company. Nice Fall break from dreary Michigan weather. I may have a guest blogger or may have some older posts from several months back reloaded to keep my two readers amused.
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My online poker playing is going great guns actually. I cleared the bonus at River Belle Poker and received my 450 SavvyPoints (equal to $45) and cleared $20 of their bonus and made $50 dollars profit from playing Limit Poker, mostly .25/.50 tables. Nice little windrall of $115 added to the bankroll. This will be the longest time I will not have played on-line poker in a year since I started playing on Absolute Poker. I have to admit I will miss it and will be at a loss of what to do with my time. I am taking two Poker Books to read on the trip, Sklansky's Limit Poker and Harrington's Volume I. I can still improve my game even when I am not playing.
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My Michigan Wolverines won a tough contest against Iowa. Thank goodness our defense keeps rising to the occasion. This team is so much like our 1997 National Championship team, strong defense, adequate offense. I hate to say that as that could be the kiss of death but we are on our way to our best season since 1997. Our next 3 games are against opponents that we should be able to handle and go into the Ohio State games undefeated. Having said this I hope I haven't jinxed my team as one injury or one stupid play could make all the difference and an upset isn't out of the question.

Michigan vs. Iowa

The game today may be the toughest of the year for the Wolverines. The Hawkeyes went and got upset last week-end by lowly Indiana so you know they are telling themselves they have nothing to lose and are going to try and avenge that loss against the number two rated team in the Nation.

At least they are playing the game in the Big House which gives Michigan a much needed advantage. This game is going to be similar to last week against Penn State where the Wolverines are going to have to play mistake free and get the running game going where they can grind out the yardage and control the ball.

Drew Tate from Iowa is much more experienced than Morelli at Penn State and he could very well make the difference. The Wolverines Defense is really going to have to arise to the occasion this time.

Michigan 28................................Iowa 21

This and That

It looks like Neteller is lining things up in case they have to pull out of the U.S. Market. Everything is just speculation at this point but now, more than ever, any time there is an announcement of anything to do with internet gambling there is a ripple effect that goes through the Poker Blogger world. At this time there is nothing definite as to when Neteller is pulling out or even IF Neteller is pulling out. I am just going to continue with business as usual. I am ready to use Neteller to fund another site (7 Sultans Poker) in the next day or so.
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Our own Dr. Pauly is the main component of this article, Online Gambling Goes Underground by Catherine Holahan in Buisness Week.com. Interesing article.
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The biggest effect so far that the Internet Gambling Ban has had on me is in bonus whoring. There are a lot fewer sites to play and to accumulate Poker Source Online (PSO) points or PokerSavvy points, which can be exchanged for money or luxury items. I am going to continue to whore as many sites as I can as fast as I can and when I have exhausted all of the sites available to me I should have a nice size bankroll which I can spread out on several sites and just play poker. Play good, tight-aggressive, Limit Holdem poker and MTT games. Then I will find out just how good of a poker player I am.
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I get annoyed by the number of people saying they are done with on-line poker and just going to play live at Brick and Mortar sites. Well that is all well and good for some but not for everyone, including me. I have 4 casinos within 90 minutes of my house but that doesn't mean I can just shoot off to them and play. Plus the limits are higher and I can't multitable. Try playing two tables at once at a B&M joint. It is a lot more +EV to sit down at my computer and fire up a session than to drive 70 miles, get put on waiting list, play for a number of hours, and then drive home. I can't do that every day and probably can only do it once a month or maybe twice. We're talking -EV now with gas, time, and food.

Addictions

Over and over I hear the Repulican'ts say that the Internet Gambling Ban will save the children and stop those addicted to gambling. Well, I googled the phrase "addiction percentages" as I wanted to find some statistics that show just how gambling addiction per capita compares with other addictions, i.e. alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, sex, etc. Lo and behold, look what I find is the number one site on google when using the search terms "addiction percentages":

Doctor claims 40 percent of World of Warcraft players are addicted

Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack, a clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, has come forward to claim that up to 40 percent of World of Warcraft players are addicted to the game.

The politicians have missed the boat entirely. It isn't online poker that is corrupting america's youth! It is video games!! And, in particular, World of Warcraft!! I know little Johnny used his parents credit card to go online and play this insidious game. I know his friend Bobby has been shaking kids down in the restrooms at his school so he can take their lunch money and go on line to play World Of Warcraft.

Orzack feels that the games are at fault more than the players. "This isn't about willpower or restraint," she said in an interview. "These games are very elaborately designed to ease you in gently, entice you, and keep you there. And it's a cycle: people begin to spend too much time playing and their careers and personal relationships begin to deteriorate."

Doesn't that last sentence sound familiar?? Have you seen the game?? We are exposing our children to hideous monsters and manipulation by wizards and warlocks. It is borderline Satanic!! And the Violence!! No wonder kids are taking guns to schools!!

A recovery clinic for video game addiction was recently opened in Amsterdam.

How could the Republican'ts have missed this terrible addiction? What would make them think that on-line gaming could even come close to this embodiment of human deprivation??

Poker and Non-Poker Ramblings

I cleared the 300 raked hands at River Belle Poker AND made a nice little $45 dollar profit. I was two tabling today to clear the last 50 raked hands I needed and everything was falling into place. Cards were hitting, Pocket pairs were holding up and I knew enough to fold when I was beat. All in all it was a very pleasant morning that will help increase my bank roll.
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Things that annoy me:
1. My check Engine light coming on in my car. It comes on for anything and everything, from the gas cap not being tight enough to air sensor going bad. Lately it has come on and then gone off and come on once again.

2. Professional Football. Maybe it is because I have been a Detroit Lion fan all of my life but I have come to the conclusion that I really don't like professional football that much. I hate the antics of the players after they make a touchdown. I hate the fact that they are suppose to be the best at what they do and I have seen high school teams make less mistakes than the pros. Offsides, illegal motion, illegal shift, holding, you name it the pros do it and more than they should. I hate Roy Williams jumping up and signaling a first down after he makes a reception. Just give the ball to the ref and get your ass back into the huddle.

3. Politicians. All parties, all colors, all genders, all levels of government (city, state, national). They always say they are doing it for the little person or the poor or the old but, in reality, they are doing it for themselves. Whoever heard of an institution that could vote themselves a raise any time, no matter what kind of job they are doing. I hate the fact that whoever is shouting the loudest or has the most money gets what they want.

4. Talk Radio/Sports Radio/Dr. Phil. If you ever thought our country was in trouble and needed confirmation just listen for an hour, hell 15 minutes, to talk radio or sports radio. I swear these people don't have a clue. If my life ever got so bad that I had to call talk radio or appear on Dr. Phil then you might as well just take me out and shoot me.
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Next week my Blog will be on hiatus while Mrs. Wolverine and I go on a five day cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. We sail on Monday and will be back on Friday. I may have a guest blogger do one or two posts. If not, I will be back to let you know how warm and sunny the weather was in the Gulf of Mexico. We are sailing on Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas. If anyone knows if they have Texas Holdem Poker on the ship, please let me know. It would be nice to have a $2/$4 Limit Holdem table I could sit at.

Golf Update and some Poker Stuff

I am presently playing at River Belle Poker, a Prima site, and trying to clear 300 raked hands before they lock my account. I am finding out that all Prima Sites are locking the accounts of poker players that live in the 11 states that have banned on-line gambling and Michigan, my state, is one of them. I have 50 more hands to rake to get my Poker Savvy bonus so I need one more day.

I think I have found a leak in my Limit play. It seems like when I lose a hand in limit it is, more often than not, from a flush. I feel that I am either missing the fact that there is a flush on board ( a scary thought if I can't see 3 or more suited cards on the board) or, more realistically, I don't believe my opponent has the flush and will call his bet or raise. This usually occurs when it is a runner/runner flush.

Let me try to explain things better. I get into a hand with Ad/Qc and the flop is Ac, 4s, 7h. I bet and am called by one player. The turn is 8h. I bet and player calls. The river is Jh and I bet and the player raises. O.K., there will be a few times when I don't see the flush draw as I am multitabling and, even using 4 color decks, miss it. Those times are rare but I'm sure they happen. Usually, I don't believe he has the flush as this is the type of move I would make if I was holding nothing or second best hand, say pair of jacks, and I wanted to bluff that I had the flush and see if my opponent will fold. Oftentimes they do.

So I call.

Big mistake as they always have the flush. The reason I call is because of what I stated above and because Sklansky says in Small Stakes Hold’em: Winning With Expert Play, if you aren't positive you are beat then it is better to lose one bet than to lose the entire pot. I think I have been taking that philosophy too far. I am pretty sure I am beat most of the times and make the crying call. On Sunday and again today, I stopped making the crying call and, lo and behold, I had a winning session. I'm not saying that I won only because of this but I am keeping an eye on it to see if this holds up.

In the meantime, I am taking more and better notes on my opponents and trying to keep myself more into the game. That is probably contributing more to my having winning sessions than by not making that final bet to see if he really is holding the flush. However, I think there is a direct correlation between when I started watching for that leak in my game and my winning sessions. I am paying more attention. Period. And that, more than anything else, is probably why I have had winning sessions yesterday and today.
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I shot an 82 today at Briar Ridge. It was a nice round when the greens weren't at their best and the weather was a bit chilly and overcast. I even chipped one in for a birdie. And, still, it was so close to being an even better round. Two putts lipped out to stop me from shooting an 80. It was a nice day to play as there were only a dozen people on the entire course and we were able to walk 18 holes in around 3 hours. I thought it was going to be a round of about 90 as I started out with bogeys on the first couple of holes. I put together a couple of pars and a birdie and the round started looking better. Then I hit a stretch where I got 4 bogeys in a row and I again thought it was going to be just a so-so round, maybe an 86 or 88. Again, I got on a nice streak where I went par, par, birdie, par and that helped propel me to my final score of 82. A round I am quite happy with as I haven't played that much due to the weather here in Michigan. We had 1 inch of snow on the ground on Thursday and Friday.

We are planning to play again Wednesday and that may be my last round of golf for the year or clsoe to it. Next week Mrs. Wolverine and I are going on a five day cruise so I won't be playing any gold then and the week after that is November and the golfing days in Michigan get pretty scarce come November and into December.

7 - 0

My Michigan Wolverines managed to take down the Nittany Lions on a cold Saturday night in State College, PA. It wasn't a thing of beauty but the Wolverines managed to control the game for most of the night until the end when one big Play from Penn State put them back into things. My Wolverines seem to never make it easy in the big games as they had a chance to put Penn State away and then let them get back into it with a short pass/long run to get a touchdown and put them within one score.

Florida's lost to Auburn probably moves my Wolverines up to 3rd in the standings. It would be pretty cool for Michigan and Ohio State to be One and Two in the nation but I think Southern Cal will stay at number 2 after beating Arizona State.
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How about those Detroit Tigers!!! Almost from worse to first. What a storybook year this has been. Fourteen losing season in a row and 19 years since being in the World Series. This is a good young team with a few veterans to help the youngsters out. They should be a good team for s few years now.

Michigan Vs. Penn State

My Michigan Wolverines travel to State College, Pennsylvania to take on the Nittany Lions of Penn State tomorrow night at about this time. It is always hard to play on the road in the Big 10 and going to State College and playing Penn State at night is going to be one tough game. Last year Penn State beat a good Ohio State team on a rainy night in PA.

I think the Wolverines are going to have to play mistake free football and try to grind it out and eat up the clock. Michigan is going to be without it star receiver Mario Manningham so that will make things a bit tougher.

With the weather not being perfect, it being a night game on the road in a tough stadium to play in and missing a valuable receiver, I think the Wolverines are going to eke out a 21 to 13 victory.

Michigan 21 .......................Penn State 13

Royal Vegas Poker Folds to U.S. Law

I received the following e-mail from Royal Vegas Poker:

Dear Wolverine Fan ,

It is with deep regret that we inform you that Royal Vegas Poker will stop accepting bets from our customers in MICHIGAN, as from mid-day, Eastern Standard Time, on October 13th.

The Safe Ports Act passed by the US Congress on Friday, September 29, makes the transfer or direct processing of money to online gaming institutions illegal in the USA.

As a result, Royal Vegas Poker has no choice but to lock your poker account, and return all cash balances to you via check, or your preferred method of payment.

Please log into your account as soon as possible and withdraw or play through any remaining cash balance you may have. Your poker account is: prvr15498726.

Any cash balances remaining in your accounts after Friday, October 13th will be returned.

Bumpy Road Ahead

Playing Poker online is still a bumpy road since the backdooring of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 Bill to ban it. President Bush signs said bill into Law on Friday the 13th. The latest shot across the bow of online poker players is the message from FirePay indicating they will decline any purchase transactions from US FirePay accounts holders at any gambling merchant site (see message below).

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.

This is very ominous indeed. So far Neteller, my preferred method of making deposits to Poker sites, is business as usual. However, that could change at any time with little or no notice.

Second strange happening: I received an e-mail 2 days ago from Crazy Poker indicating that they were going to offer 33% rake back at their site. Today I received another e-mail indicating that they may not be able to let American Citizens play on their site but if you were to e-mail them they would help with a work around. Sorry, I don’t have a copy of the exact wording but this is pretty much the gist of the e-mail. This is very strange indeed.

Finally, I have read at a couple of sites that Sun is paying the September rake back to American Players and they are indicating they may soon open their poker room back up to U.S. players. This may be just smoke and mirrors by Sun to appease a large player base that they divorced themselves from but it is interesting, none-the-less.

IMHO, I recommend that you deposit funds at sites you intend to clear bonuses on or at sites that you just prefer playing at. This will give you a leg up in case anything changes with depositing funds at poker sites in the near future. I am of the opinion that we will be able to get our money out of a site somehow, even if it means them mailing us a check. It may take longer but evenutally we should have our money in hand.

To sum things up. I think we are in for a few more surprises before everything shakes out and I think you will be a step ahead of things if you already have money deposited at Poker sites.

Check out this blog for a well thought out post on the gambling bill: Dragonystic

Limit Holdem Challenge Update

The biggest news in my Limit Challenge is that I can no longer play it on Titan Poker as they have decided to ban U.S. players at this time. I put the Challenge on hiatus for a couple of days until I decide which direction I want to go with it. My limit challenge bankroll stands at $224 presently from a start of $25 in just over two months time. Not to shabby.

I have two choices that I can put into action very quickly. The first is to move the challenge to Royal Vegas Poker and continue it there. The second is to open an account into a new Poker site (I'm looking at River Belle via PokerSavvy) and continue the challenge at the new site. That is the direction I am leaning towards at this time because I will be able to clear raked hands quite quickly at the new site playing $1/$2 Limit Holdem which will help me kill two birds with one stone by continuing my Limit Holdem Challenge and by clearing the bonus at the new site.

River Belle is a Prima site and so far they are letting U.S. players play. I am in a bonus whore mode so I will probably load River Belle, complete the bonus and move on to another site within two weeks.
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I received this in an e-mail from Crazy Poker:

Because you are such a valued player at Crazy Poker, we have great news for you. We are promoting you to the highest rewards level available at Crazy Poker, giving you a 33% Rakeback! That's right - play at Crazy Poker and you will be refunded 33% of the Poker Room's income that is generated from your rakes!

Just another option to pursue. Maybe I'll move the Limit Holdem Challenge to Crazy.
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I'm still trying to decide if I should start a No Limit Challenge or not. My Limit Challenge is still only two months old so maybe it would be better to continue it for at least another two months and see how far I can take it. I can't do both. I may do a SitNGo Challenge, though. I can do that at the same time as I am doing my Limit Challenge.
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Golf is winding down in Michigan which means I will have a lot more time to play poker. I may be able to play golf once or twice a week for the next two weeks. After that, who knows. I played a lot of golf this year and was able to get my handicap down to a solid 11 strokes for 18 holes. I am going to really work this winter on my putting and use my weighted club to hone my swing so next year I can make a real effort at cracking single digits for a handicap.

Turn Out the Lights, the Party's Over

I received this message when I tried to play at Titan today. My time there has ended.

I did clear quite a few hands at Royal Vegas and actually made a little money today. One more day and that Bonus is cleared.

I think I may take my Limit Challenge to Royal Vegas for several days and see how I do there. I think I can do well if I play my game. I'm also considering a No Limit challenge just like Chipper is doing. I think that is a good way to get a start in No Limit. I have come unbelievably far in Limit and will continue to study and play Limit Holdem but a No Limit challenge is an excellent way to learn that side of the game.

I'm a big believer in Challenges as that is exactly what they do. They challenge you to move out of your comfort zone and to learn the game better. Just put aside a certain amount you are willing to gamble with (and lose) and consider it like Tuition for college. Pay your tuition and learn the game.

Everything Poker

We are starting to get a sense of where things are heading as far as the ban on internet gambling. We have seen several poker sites that have determined they are not going to let U.S. players play on their sites and we have seen several sites that say things are business as usual. The biggest question mark in my mind is the banking/neteller end of things and how I am going to make deposits into my accounts. Personally, I think Neteller is going to continue with business as usual through the new year, anyway. Neteller is what I use and so far it looks like nothing has changed or will soon and I should be able to continue to add new sites and be able to make deposits to them. Only time will tell.
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There is a sense of urgency to my poker playing now and, instead of playing the best hands to win the pot, I am still playing marginal hands to clear rakes. This is mostly due to the legislation that was recently passed regarding on-line poker. I am trying to clear my PokerSavvy bonus at Titan Poker and am starting to really donk off my chips. I already received an e-mail from Titan stating they would be closing my account but so far I am continueing to play as if nothing had happened. I am seeing other Americans playing, also. I am down to just about 4 days of playing to accumulate the 2500 Titan Points I need to generate 900 PokerSavvy points (equivalent to $90). I am playing a lot longer sessions in an attempt to clear the points and get the bonus. Thus I am staying in after I have lost a certain amount and am just reloading to keep on playing.

In the past I have had a stop number that when I lost that amount, I would quit for the day. That would help limit my losses and I would start the next day all refreshed and ready to kick ass. It has worked well in the past. I need to get back to that. I also need to win my first couple of hands and then I will have a cushion to play with while I accumulate points.

And the real kicker is I don't even know if they will honor the PokerSavvy bonus at this point.
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At Royal Vegas Poker I am doing the same as above but I am getting a lot more bad beats there than at Titan. I am playing lower stakes but at one point I stopped raising A/Q, A/K, K/Q because it was like a red flag to a bull and at least 3 or 4 would call my raise with marginal hands but then get a great flop and I lose!

I found that if I limped in there would be less callers than if I raised. No Kidding!! As soon as I clear 70 more raked hands there ( just a couple more days of playing) I will get my bonus from there and probably close out that site. I haven't decided yet. I may just sit back and play really tight and see if I can recouperate some of this money I have lost due to playing marginal hands.
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I'm looking forward to when my Royal Vegas Poker and my Titan Poker bonuses are done. I think I will slow down then and try to enjoy my poker playing and not play with such a sense of urgency that I end up donking my chips. We are getting a good sense of what poker rooms are going to let Americans play and I don't see that changing any time soon. There are at least a half dozen or more sites I can play at and accumulate SavvyPoints.

Hail to the Victors

Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
the leaders and best
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan,
the champions of the West!

My Michigan Wolverines won another one yesterday against our hated rivals, Michigan State. It wasn't a classic game but a win is a win and we are still undefeated going into a couple of tough games, Penn State on the road and Iowa at home.
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I haven't played much poker this week-end. I like to play in the mid-mornings during the week. I work second shift so as soon as I wake up and get a cup of coffee in me, then I play. I have to admit that at nights and on week-ends the players are a lot more aggressive with a lot more raises and I am just not comfortable playing that way ............... yet. I am getting there and I know that if I play my game, I can beat them in the long run. When I play at night or on week-ends I tell myself that you are in it for the long run and just wait for your good hands and good position and then be as aggressive as your opponents.

Last night one dick is raising every hand and I am folding, waiting for a good hand and good position to take him on. Finally I get a nice hand and raise and, of course, he calls. Pretty good flop giving me top pair so I bet and he calls all the way to the river and then shows Ace/Ace. Damn, the one time he has a good hand I have to take him on. He left shortly after that so I wasn't able to get my money back from him. I went on to have a winning session by getting a couple of nice hands and being as aggressive as my dick opponent was so it turned out all right but I was really hoping he would stay so I could take some money off of him.

I like to think of myself as a TAG, a Tight AGgressive player but some may call me a rock. I tend to wait for good hands and I play them aggressively when I get them but I will, also, play small pairs (from 2/2 on up) in hopes of getting set. If flop is favorable I will play small pairs to turn and river.

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Titan Poker is still letting me play so I'm not sure what the e-mail was about when they stated they were closing my account. I'm going to play there until they stop me as I really want to get enough Titan Points for my PokerSavvy bonus. Worse case scenario is that I get the Titan Points but Titan doesn't honor them as I am a U.S. player. I guess I am willing to take that chance. After all, I am a gamble, am I not?

Michigan Vs. Michigan State

Tomorrow is the game of the year so far for 2006. Michigan vs. Michigan State is an interstate rivalry and you can use all of the sporting Cliches you can think of on this game. On paper, Michigan should win handily but you can't go by that as emotions take over in this game. MSU has nothing to lose and everything to gain by winning this game Saturday. They blew a big lead against Notre Dame and then went out and got beat by a vastly inferior Illinois team. They lost one of their best running backs and offensive linemen. Their quarterback is hurting. That being said this game is going to be a dog fight. Michigan has had to go into 4 overtimes the past two years to eke out wins against the Spartans. This year may be no different.

Now that I have stated my case for MSU, I can honestly say there is no way Michigan should lose this game. They are bigger, faster, more experienced, and are playing at home in the Big House. Michigan's offense and fast defense should help the Wolverines dominate this game and I see them winning it by two touchdowns.

Michigan 35 ........................Michigan State 21

Titan Closing Down on USA

I received the following e-mail from Titan Poker:

Dear Wolverine Fan,
Due to the recent passing of the Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act by the United States Senate on September 30, 2006, and its imminent enactment as federal law, we will no longer allow real money gaming activities from United States residents.

We regret to inform you that, consequently, we are closing your gaming account at Titan Poker.

Your balance is available to you. You may access your account and request the withdrawal of such balance, subject to any conditions that might apply, including bonuses received.

We appreciate your patronage, and apologize for any inconvenience caused. We hope to be able to offer to you our services again in the future.

Robin Steele
ManagerTitan Poker
"Become a Legend at Titan Poker"

This one really hurt because I have been really successful at Titan Poker doing my Limit Challenge. I was able to turn $25 into $250 at Titan playing myLimit Challenge. I like the poker room, I have a lot of notes on the players, I see the same players a lot of the time, just everything was working well at Titan until now. It also cost me 900 PokerSavvy points which is equivalent to $90.

Thank you so much Bill Frist for thinking of me and my family.
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I just signed up for two MTT's at Absolute Poker. One door closes, another door opens. (At least I hope it stays ajar, anyway)
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I have to clear about 300 more raked hands at Royal Vegas Poker to clear their bonus. I figure that to take about 6 days, averaging 50 raked hands per day. I can only hope I have 6 more days at Royal Vegas Poker.
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After the two MTT's this week-end at Absolute Poker and clearing my Bonus at Royal Vegas Poker, I may have to step back for a little bit and see how everything is shaking out with the Anti-Gambling Legislation. By that time the President will have signed the Bill and we should have a good idea of which poker rooms are still going to allow United States Citizens to play. At that time I will determine what poker room I am going to play to get my next PokerSavvy bonus.

I am in such a hurry to clear the raked hands that I am playing a lot of hands that I never would dream of playing if I was in it to strictly make a profit. It has been a good lessen as I see how these marginal hands fail to hold up against raised hands and just the normal "good" hand like A/10 or K/Q, J/Q, 7/7, etc. I would like to tighten up some but I really want to clear the bonus before Royal Vegas Poker says, "See ya, Yank. It's been fun." I am down about $13 dollars so even if I donk off $50 and get the remaining $50 bonus, I will come out ahead. I would like to at least break even and get the entire $100 dollar bonus but that may not be feasible when playing marginal hands like I am.

Limit Challenge Update and More Rants

My Limit Challenge on Titan Poker is going great guns. I had a modest win today of $7 dollars after about 90 minutes of play (clearing over 70 Titan Points). That put my total over $250 for the Challenge. When I cleared the $200 dollar mark I was suppose to go up in Limits to $2/$4 but I have deviated from the chart (as I have in the past, too). I am comfortable at the $1/$2 dollar limit for now and am going to stay there until I pass the $300 dollar mark. At that point I will move up to the $2/$4 Limit.

I am still finding that the play at the $1/$2 limits are the same as at the .50/$1 Limits and, in fact, I am seeing a few of the sam players at both limits. I still contend my game is head and shoulders better than what it was when I first started the challenge but since my challenge is only two months old, I feel that it is moving faster than I ever thought it would and, although my game may be ready to move up in Limits, my mind isn't. I will move up when I feel that I am psychologically ready to move up. I need a bit of a bigger comfort zone with my bankroll than to move up too fast and lose a large chunk of what it took such hard work to earn. I realize the Challenge was designed to make me a better player but I want to be a "Winning" player, too, so I am going a little slower than I probably have to.
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Where is the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) when I need them. They are always backing something that I am totally against, you would think that just once they would be on my side with an issue so why aren't they trying to overturn the ban on On-line Poker??
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Its a good thing that Rep. Mark Foley didn't have an on-line Poker site downloaded to his laptop. He'd really be in trouble then.
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Maybe we need a more vigorous outcry about the legislation against On-line Poker from Gay, Lesbian and African American Poker Players. Phil Ivey, we need you more than ever!
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Sun Poker has shutdown US players, effective this date.

Rants and Ramblings

The Republican facists have gone and back doored a bill to ban online gambling (Conference Report on H.R. 4954, the SAFE Port Act). I will never, ever vote for Bill Frist for anything, not even dog catcher. He would not stop until he got this bill through as he is trying to set up his "conservative" agenda for a presidential run in 2008. I think he cut off his nose to spite his face. The religious conservatives would have voted for him whether or not he got this legislation passed but a lot of voters that play poker will not vote for him now and as close as the last two elections have been, the poker vote could swing it from him to the democrats.

I thought I would never, ever say this but I will vote for Hillary Clinton before I will vote for Bill Frist.
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I have withdrawn my money from Party Poker, Poker Stars and Mansion Poker. I did not play them too much anyway. I still have money in a couple of sites and am trying to be patient and see how this all shakes out.

I am not sure how this will effect my Savvy Points as I have not been to that site to check on it. I assume it should have no effect on that site but the lack of american players may end up shutting down sites like PokerSavvy and Poker Source Online.
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I have proximity to Canada as I live in Michigan but I don't believe that getting a Canadian Bank account gets around the new law. You still have to get the poker sites to let you play and, I guess, you can give a fake address but they may want copy of driver's license and utility bill to prove that you do not live in the U.S.A which would effectively stop many people from playing. I know it would effectively stop me.
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I believe there are 62 countries that allow on-line gambling. How can our country be so puritan compared to the rest of the world? Are we really that out of touch?
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Six-term Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned yesterday amid reports that he had sent sexually explicit Internet messages to at least one underage male former page.

How can the republican legislature be so anti on-line poker but tolerate this type of behavior? What sanctimonious bastards they all are. If they were paying more attention to their own instead of on-line gambling, maybe this wouldn't be coming back to haunt them. I hope they all lose the November elections.
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Let me see if I get this straight. No on-line gambling but you can still buy Lotto tickets in every state for a chance to win. The one type of gambling that has the absolute biggest odds for you to lose and it is all right. What a bunch of crap. You are virtually guranteed to lose your money when you buy a lotto ticket. You might as well light it on fire as to buy a lotto ticket.
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All right Senator Frist, I understand it is all right for me to go out onto the internet and pay a site that allows me to see a donkey and a woman having sex, or two men, or two women, or a bunch of men and women, and that is all right? But I can't pay MY money and go to a poker site and put .60 cents on a SitNgo game that, because of my skill, I have a chance of winning and making a small amount of money? Why that makes perfect sense. Why didn't I think of that earlier.
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On a lighter note, my Michigan Wolverines took control of the game early and hung on for a 28 to 14 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. They now have to play arch rival Michigan State who couldn't get their act together and lost to a mediocre Illinois team. I hate this cliche but it is true that you can throw out the records when Michigan and Michigan State play each other because it is an instate rivalry. The Wolverines defense will have to shut down the Spartans so that Michigan can continue undefeated. Prediction to come later.