Neteller out, YouTeller in??

E-Wallets – Neteller to be Replaced by YouTeller
NewswireToday - /newswire/ - London, United Kingdom, 01/30/2007 - Shortly after Neteller announced its decision to pull out of the US gaming market on January 18, the London-based technology company Seed Capital Ltd. introduced a new payment processing service 'YouTeller.com'. "We will start in March with a revolution in simplicity of worldwide online payments. Everybody who can download songs or play online games will now be able to pay for that instantly," ... [full story]

COMING MARCH 2007!!

Fool's Gold and Bubbled

Team Bodog cuts Jamie Gold
Bodog ended their relationship with World Series of Poker champion Jamie Gold Thursday, citing a desire to refocus their marketing efforts away from America. "In light of our decision to cease all offline marketing initiatives in the U.S., and instead refocus our efforts … in Europe and Asia, Bodog has ended our business relationship with Jamie Gold," Bodog spokesperson Susan Mainzer said in a statement.

I just never liked Jamie Gold. I don't know if it was the trash talk during the WSOP or the way he looked and the hat he wore or what, but I know I didn't like him.

I think he had one fantastic run at the WSOP and has won at Commerce Casino in California so he is probably an above average player but I still don't like him.
________________________________
I have been finishing on the bubble in quite a few of the SitNGos I have been playing at Absolute. There will be four or five players left (3 get paid) and I will be above average chip stack and in just a couple of hands I will be out. Almost every time I am going in with the best hand but am losing on the board. In one game today it was my A/K vs. Q/9 with 4 players left and the flop came with both a queen and a nine and IGHN. I could have sat out or folded every hand and gotten into the money.

The standard for playing SitNGos is to be super tight early, loosen up in middle rounds and then go all out in the late rounds with just a few players left. I may just start folding every hand when it gets down to the final 4 and see if my in the money percentage doesn't increase. I realize if I do get to the final 3 my chip stack will probably be very low and it would be hard to contend for 1st place but at least I would have earned some money.

I'm not sure I can play that way, though. We'll see. I will keep you posted on how I do.

Neteller Acting the Fool

Mrs. Wolverine is doing much better and is coming home today. She was pretty sick and didn't improve much on Friday or Saturday but yesterday things were a lot better.

The anitibiotics deployed their elite team of rangers and began kicking the shit out of the infection. She was up and around a lot more yesterday and is even better today.
__________________________
Card Squad has another disturbing article about Neteller acting a lot like like Russ "Dutch" Boyd's Pokerspot when it closed down.

This is freaking unbelievable as they have my golf money tied up. The SOB's better pay off or all hell is going to break loose.

Boycott Online Poker

Check out Bill Rini's blog or Full Shill Poker for stories on a proposal to boycott online poker for one week-end. Personally, I'm in as I have said on this blog that the Poker rooms aren't doing enough to combat the UIGEA.

From Midnight on February 8th (EST) through Midnight on Sunday February 11 (PST), do not play any internet poker.
______________________________________
Posted on Friday in Cardplayer.com.

WTO Again Rules in Antigua's Favor
U.S. Has Done Nothing to Comply with Ruling
According to reports, the World Trade Organization has told the United States is hasn’t done enough to comply with a 2003 ruling concerning rules to restrict online gambling that was brought against it by Antigua.
The full report won’t be out until March, but according to Reuters, the WTO again ruled in favor of Antigua, which claims the United States is violating WTO agreements by working to prohibit its citizens from being able to gamble online.
Antigua claims that U.S. laws favor domestic companies over foreign companies, which is a violation of the WTO agreement. Antigua is the smallest member of the WTO.
Antigua’s original complaint was filed back in 2003, long before the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which further restricted its citizens from making wagers on the Internet by targeting banks that service online sites. The UIGE Act was signed into law in October of 2006.
The WTO sides with Antigua in the original case and rejected the U.S.’s appeal in 2005, but the federal government has done nothing at all to comply with the ruling. This ruling apparently addresses this.
Please check back with CardPlayer.com for more news about this issue.

We'll have to wait and see what comes of this, if anything.
__________________________________
Cardplayer.com has an interesting article by Todd Brunson of the History of the Big Game. This is more than just Andy Beal and his part in the Big Game as it was written in The Professor. the Banker and the Suicide King : Inside the Richest Poker Game of them All by Michael Craig.
___________________________________

Get Well Wishes

Posting will be scarce the next few days as Mrs. Wolverine is in the hospital with appendicitis. Her appendix had burst and there was a lot of bad stuff inside her. She will be in the hospital for a couple of days. She is fine and should be home soon but it has been a tense couple of days at the Wolverine Household.

Thanks for your thoughts and wishes and I should be back with a poker post this week-end.

Interesting Stories/Posts

I’m following Dixieflatline as he is making a run at making a living as a Poker Pro. So far he is doing pretty good.

Department of Justice (DoJ) is at it again, U. S. Government Widening Attack On Online Poker and Gaming, Subpoenas were issued to HSBC, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort, and others are reportedly being looked at as well.

Out on BailBoth the NETeller founders who were arrested last week are now out on bail. Stephen Laurence posted $4 million of his $5 million bail yesterday by putting a New York apartment up as collateral for the last $1.5 million. Last week, John Lefebvre posted bail after being arrested at his Malibu home. Both men have apparently had their passports revoked, and are scheduled to appear in a New York courtroom this Friday. January 26th.

How about this Scenario??

Juan Valdez, well known Rooster owner and Cock Fighter in the State of Nuevo Loredo, Mexico was arrested today by deputized agents of the ASCPA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) while on a business trip to Phoenix, Arizona.

Mr Valdez was in the process of purchasing some roosters from a local Phoenix farm for the purpose of breeding hens in his egg production business. The Deputies of the ASCPA said the roosters were fighting Cocks and Mr. Valdez had purchased them to use in cock fights in Mexico.

The Deputies of the ASCPA stated that Cock Fighting is illegal in the United States so Mr. Valdez's purchase of the cocks for fighting was in violation of U.S. Law as the United States does not allow the sport of Cock Fighting.

In Mexico, cockfights are a legal activity, regulated from a central entity in the Federal District which licenses the sponsor and gives him the right and responsibility of assuring the regulations are followed and that order is maintained.

Mr. Valdez posted bail of $100,000 dollars.
_____________________________________
If they can do it for online gambling/poker, why not for Cock Fighting? It is legal in another country but not in ours so similarities are there.

Arrest them All!!

Here's a different spin on the UIGEA and the most recent arrests of the two Neteller ex-exutives. Arrest them all!

Yep. Arrest some more executives, some poker/casino CEOs, some of the Professionals that sponsor the on-line poker rooms.

Put Phil Ivey, Phil Gordon, Chris Ferguson in handcuffs and make sure CNN is there. Put Doyle Brunson and Jennifer Harmon in manacles. Parade them in front of the cameras and make a spectacle out of it. Arrest Will Wheaton.

Nothing is going to change until a lot more publicity comes down about online gambling. Nothing is going to change until some of the courts start ruling on what is legal and what is illegal. I have read a number of legal opinions on the wire act and on-line gambling and almost everyone says that the court would rule against the wire act if it ever came to trial.

Maybe the bad publicity will finally get the wheels rolling and get our useless fucking congress to start to rescind these invasive laws and get out of our lives.

What I wouldn't give to have some Senator or Reprsentative caught playing on-line poker or betting on Football games with Bodog. That would be freaking priceless.

Meh...

When the UIGEA was first passed I felt sick to my stomach. I wondered how this was so and how were they able to sneak this past congress in the 11th hour? Frankly, I was so upset that I voted Democrat for the first time in my life in the November '06 elections. I felt that my concernes were not being heard.

Now that Neteller has stopped depositing to poker sites, I think, meh.....

Am I getting blace about this whole United States Government Anti-gambling (anti-poker) stuff? I don't know. I know that I have enough money in several poker rooms to allow me to still try and grow my bankroll. I know that I can deposit money via a check or moneyorder and all it will cost me is the ease and speed of Neteller but it still can be done. I'm pretty sure another method will arrive that I can use to desposit money that will be faster and as easy as Neteller. I just have to be patient.

I'm pretty sure I could trust a fellow blogger from a country outside of the United states to fund my account via neteller using the peer-to-peer transfer. Probably won't have to go that route but it an option that may have to be explored.

I don't think this is the end of on-line poker by any means. I think there will be a shake out and new laws will be passed and, with some gnashing of the teeth, regulations will be put into place and taxes will be collected and the government will be tickled pink with the new money they will be obtaining.

I just will not accept the fact that I can see the most vile pornography ever imagined on the internet, watch videos of almost anything these days because of the camera phones but still am unable to play a .60 cent SitNgo legally. Something's going to change and it can't be soon enough.

The 2008 elections can't come soon enough for me.

Neteller out of USA

Neteller has stopped accepting American deposits for Poker sites and it happened for a totally different reason than everyone thought. Here is their statement in part:

Effective Immediately

"Due to recent US legislative changes and events, effective immediately, US members are no longer able to transfer funds to or from any online gambling sites.

All US members will continue to be able to use their NETELLER e-wallet account to safely transfer funds to and from non-gambling merchants and are not required to close their account or withdraw their funds."

I have already received e-mails from Bodog and Absolute Poker on alternative ways to fund their sites.

Check out DoubleAs blog for an interesting take on what happened to Neteller Executives.

I have money at 4 sites right now and am just planning on building my bankroll from those 4 sites and not making any deposits in the near future. I did withdraw my funds that were sitting in Neteller to my poker bank account and the transaction appeared to go through without a hitch.

Poker game is taking a U turn

I think my offerings and prayers to the Poker Gods and the Saintes have helped turn my game around. I have had pretty good sessions the last two days on most of the sites I have played. I did play in a tournament on Absolute and ran into this hand.

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t15/t30
9 players
Converter


Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP3 with
UTG calls t30 (pot was t45), UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t30 (pot was t75), MP2 calls t30 (pot was t105), Hero calls t30 (pot was t135), 3 folds, 3 folds, BB checks.


Flop: (t165, 5 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks, Hero checks.


Turn: (t165, 5 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets t90, Hero calls t90 (pot was t255), BB folds, UTG calls t90 (pot was t345), MP1 folds.


River: (t435, 3 players)
UTG checks, MP2 bets t180, Hero raises to t360, UTG folds, MP2 raises to t720, Hero raises to t1440, MP2 raises to t2880, Hero calls all-in t15.
Uncalled bets: t1425 returned to MP2.


Results:
Final pot: t3345 Hilight text below for results.

MP2 Shows 5c 4cfor a Straight flush
Hero mucks 2c Ac for a flush

High Stakes Poker

High Stakes Poker on the Game Show Network (GSN) had Mike Matusow giving all kinds of shit to Jamie Gold about his WSOP win. It would have been even funnier but Jamie Gold does have the WSOP bracelet and Mike doesn't. Hardly seems fair, really.

I have only seen two episodes and, to me, it looked like Jamie Gold was out of his element somewhat, although, he did make a couple of good plays according to host Gabe Kaplan (Welcome Back Kotter). One hand Doyle Brunson had a set of 7's (I think) and as he was deciding how to bet after the river, Gold says to him it's no shame to check. Gabe Kaplan jumped all over that one saying that Jamie was talking to the wrong man with Brunson.

The show is pretty entertaining with Matusow talking nonstop with Daniel Negreanu and Shawn Sheikhan adding their two cents worth. I hope to keep watching just to see Jamie Gold taken down a notch or two. I can't stand that guy and nobody in the history of poker had the typ of run he did to win his World Series brackelet.
_______________________________________________
I think I've gotten things turned around somewhat at Full Tilt Poker as I had a pretty good session yesterday and a nice session this morning. I cleared part of my bonus and with my winnings today I am back to even.

My No Limit game at Bodog has gone so far downhill I don't think I will even try to keep it going. I have been beat several times when Ihave gone in with best hand and then there were the times I clearly didn't have the best hand and kept donking off my chips anyway. Either No Limit is not the game for me or Bodog is not the site for me or maybe both. I've lost over $20 in the last 3 days at $10 Max table.

Losing the Close ones

It seems like I am losing all of the close races with my poker hands. I have good hands but someone just has one a tad bit better. In one stretch of hands on Full Tilt I had Q/Q and A/K comes on flop, J/J and A/K comes on flop, 8/8 and opponent has 9/9 and beats me by a whisker. Three hands in a row and A/K flops on two of them. What are the chances of that??

I am winning some hands but if I could take down a few of these close ones I would be back up overall. As it is I am still in the red at Full Tilt and trying to turn it around.

Invoking a Higher Power

My virgin sacrifice to the Poker Gods has had mixed results. I still lost a SitNGo on Absolute when my pair of Aces w/ Queen kicker was cracked by Kings when the third King came on the river. However, I did experience a winning session on Full Tilt at the .25/.50 Limit Holdem table.

Since Virgins are getting harder and hard to come by I have decided to, hopefully, speed up the process of turning my downswing into an upswing I have started to appeal to the Saints for lost causes and desperate situations.

St. Philomena (on the right) has been successfully invoked by her supplicants in every sort of need, such that she has become another patron of "hopeless" and "impossible" cases and St. Rita (top left) is well-known as a patron of desperate, seemingly impossible causes and situations.

Holy patroness of those in need, Saint Rita and Saint Philomena, so humble, pure and patient, whose pleadings are irresistible, obtain for us our request to experience a massive winning streak at everything poker. Be gracious toward us, for the greater glory of God.
Amen

And, because the Lord helps those who help themselves, I have been out to 2 + 2 Forums and have started studying up on my game by studying the different plays presented in the micro-limit forums. I have reviewed the hand history at my last Full Tilt session and found a few leaks in my game.

Poker Gods are mad!! Warning, whining ahead.

The Poker Gods have turned their back on me and my poker game for the last two days. And it is on every site, too!! The last two days have been unbelievable in any form of poker I have played. I have played on Poker.com, Absolute Poker and Full Tilt Poker and on every site I have been sucked out on, rivered, missed the flop, 1 outered, 2 outered, 3 outered, gut shot, you name it.

75% of the time I have had the best hand going in and lost. The other 25% of the time I had a very good hand only to see my opponent have one card just slightly better than mine. In a SitNGo today on Absolute I call w/ A/J suited only to see A/K and IGHN. On Full Tilt I had K/9 and the turn was a King and when all was said and done, the one caller had K/10 and I ship my chips to him and the one time I had A/A my opponent had Q/Q and got a Queen on the flop and IGHN.

In a MTT at Poker .Com I was dealt A/J, A/K, A/K in 3 successive hands and they all lost.

I have lost $40 dollars in the last 3 days on Full Tilt when I have played tight and have only seen 20% of the flops. I have lost with A/A, K/K, Q/Q, J/J and any number of A/K and A/Q hands.

I am appealing to the Poker Gods to please accept my sacrifice, to implore them to see how humbled they have made me and to please just give me an even break.

Ohio State (and the Big Ten) Sucked!!

Who the hell was that team in the National Championship Game last night?? That was not the Ohio State team that dismantled a pretty good Michigan team in November.

Was this the worse National Championship game ever?? Florida and USC should have played for the Championship instead of Ohio State.

I think a lot of it was Urban Meyer outcoaching Jim Tressel just like Lloyd Carr got outcoached by Pete Carrol. Neither team did anything to slow down the pass rush of USC and Florida. Troy Smith sure looked like a back up quarterback and not the Heisman Trophy winner. Chris Leak kicked his ass.

No reverses, no draw plays, no screen passes. It was pitiful. A pitiful display of football by both Big 10 teams. In fact the Big 10 sucked in the Bowl games. The SEC proved they were one of the best, if not the best, conference.
________________________________
My No Limit practice is going pretty good on Bodog. I have managed to be very, very patient and bet up my good hands to the max and this has allowed me to double my buy-ins the last two days. I cannot believe some of the all ins that occur at the micro limits. These players have more money than brains. I have learned to fold, fold, fold and then pounce when my hand is good.

I'm not sure I am cut out for No Limit play though. I can handle the micro-limits right now but I'm not sure I can mentally handling playing (and losing) $50 or more dollars at a time. I guess time will tell and see how my card game and the emotional side develop.

Here is the big hand for me in the PokerSavvy MTT Tournament on Absolute.

Absolute Poker
PokerSavvy No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t20/t40

Pre-flop: Wolverine Fan is BB with 3D Q♠
UTG+1 calls t40 (pot was t60), Wolverine Fan checks.

Flop: 3♠ 3♣ J♠ (t100, 2 players) Wolverine Fan checks, UTG+1 checks.

Turn: A♠ (t100, 2 players) Wolverine Fan bets t80, UTG+1 calls t80 (pot was t180).

River: Q♥ (t260, 2 players) Wolverine Fan is all-in t910, UTG+1 calls t910 (pot was t1170).

Results:Final pot: t2080

Well, what do you think happened??

PokerSavvy Tournaments and other Good Stuff

PokerSavvy is running a series of tournaments on Absolute Poker starting today at 3PM. Go to PokerSavvy and get all of the information under the Tournament section of the web site.

What Super Hero are You???

Check out 9-2 Offsuit as Josh (aka “dixieflatline”) decides to become an on-line professional poker player. I wish him all the luck in the world!!

Negreanu Rips Raymer's Poker Skills

IStrong No Limit Videos There are many ways to improve your poker playing skills. The first way is to read, read, read and then read some more of the good poker books and articles out there that will help teach you how to play this game we call Poker. Next you must play a lot of hands and start putting together what you have learned from your reading to create experiences on the felt that helps you to continue to learn this game of poker. You will have bad beats and fantastics wins and both should be memorable experiences to help you grow with your game.Then there are videos. Phil Gordon has videos on how to play this game and there are a number of sites that require you to pay a membership in order to see their videos and help improve you game play. There are some really well done videos that are free of charge to watch and help you to learn how to play No Limit Poker, $100 or $200 dollar max, 5-table and 6 table games. These are located at the 2+2 Forums and are created by a British player IStrong.IStrong No Limit VideosCheck them out and let me know what you think. I do not play No Limit but watching these videos has helped me with my Limit game.

There are many ways to improve your poker playing skills. The first way is to read, read, read and then read some more of the good poker books and articles out there that will help teach you how to play this game we call Poker. Next you must play a lot of hands and start putting together what you have learned from your reading to create experiences on the felt that helps you to continue to learn this game of poker. You will have bad beats and fantastics wins and both should be memorable experiences to help you grow with your game.

Then there are videos. Phil Gordon has videos on how to play this game and there are a number of sites that require you to pay a membership in order to see their videos and help improve you game play. There are some really well done videos that are free of charge to watch and help you to learn how to play No Limit Poker, $100 or $200 dollar max, 5-table and 6 table games. These are located at the 2+2 Forums and are created by a British player IStrong.

IStrong No Limit Videos

Check them out and let me know what you think. I do not play No Limit but watching these videos has helped me with my Limit game.

Shark Poker Tour

Shark Poker Tour $200 dollars added MTT tonight on Absolute Poker at 9PM with just a $5 dollar buy-in.

Excellent MTT that has been getting only about 35 players so the chances of making a big score are quite good. The players are good and the game is fun and quick.

Be there or be square.

Pretenders, not Contenders

It looks like my Michigan Wolverines were pretenders, not contenders for the National Championship. The USC Trojans exploited all of the Wolverine's weaknesses to go on and humiliate them in the Rose Bowl. The game was close for the first half and then the Trojans changed their game plan and it was all over after that.

No pass rush equals no pass defense for this Wolverine team. The Trojans were hitting on all cylinders with their ends catching everything that came close to them. The game was probably over but Michigan still had a chance until the Trojan receivers took over in one sequence where they went 80 yards in 4 plays to score. The first play the end was double covered but he outjumped the Michigan defense and caught the ball. The next play the receiver caught it one handed over his shoulder then two more plays and the game was over.

Next year says the loyal Michigan fan. We can only hope.
__________________________________________
It could be worse. I could be an Oklahoma fan that got beat by a good Boise State team in OT.

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone!!
I have a few New Years Resolutions. Some are new, some are the same every year.

1. Lose Weight
2. Stop Swearing
3. Win a Multi Table Tournament this year
4. Average winning $10 a day at Poker
5. Keep Better track of Poker statistics
6. Shoot 5 rounds of golf in the 70's
7. Play more than one golf course next year.
8. Play more poker
9. Play more golf