Hella Hold'em

What a crazy weekend for poker.

Saturday night, I met up with Armando, Kathie and the gang for a long-overdue rendition of the JackHammer game. Armando and Kat got a new house, and it's simply gorgeous, making for a fine backdrop for our poker festivities.

Joining us were Jen, Rob, Ed, Eric and Manda, and eventually Tom. I feel like I'm missing somebody. Please correct me if I'm wrong! It was good to see everybody, and though I didn't play a whole lot of hands due to the overpopulation of 10-3 in my pocket, I had a great time - even when my brother knocked me out on the bubble, calling my short-stacked all-in with Ace high. Bastard. (I had 8-6 of hearts). OK, fine, it was the right move. Grumble grumble grumble. The sleeping vagi-ant got me. He got Jen too, when he pulled a big blind straight flush out of his ass to destroy her Jack-high flush. Rob spent the evening "one cigarette away from being an idiot," and since most of us were drinking heavily, it was a game for the ages.

Congrats to Armando and Kat on the new house, and thanks for having us!

In other news... it seems that I'm going to have to start making the trek over to Indiana if I want to play any poker. The fine lawmakers of this country have pulled a move that only a tantrum-bound 6 year old could appreciate. When they couldn't get their anti-gaming legislation to grow legs on its own merit (maybe because it's completely idiotic, considering the various forms of gaming that are LEGAL - not to mention potential revenues that could be gathered by legalizing and regulating online gaming), they attached it to a bill that was most certain to pass - a port security bill. (Not that port security has anything to do with online gaming...) The president (intentionally written with a lowercase P, because he too is an idiot not worthy of the title) will surely sign it into law, and we will be unable to transfer money to and from online gaming companies. Party Poker and others have already announced that they will suspend all U.S. accounts once this is signed into law. It was fun while it lasted.

If I were involved in any of the companies in the UK that are suffering massive stock losses as a result of this U.S. legislation, I'd be mighty pissed at the short-sightedness and juvenile behavior of our government. It's not a proud day to be an American. In fact, I haven't felt "proud" of my government for a very long time.

So now, I'm wondering what people are doing. Are you all cashing out your online poker funds? I'm sure some sites will force withdrawals when they suspend U.S. accounts, but that mass exodus of money will surely hurt some sites. What if they don't have the money to refund to all of their U.S. players? It makes me think that initiating the withdrawal yourself is not a bad idea. Someone mentioned frequent player points - don't forget to cash those out! I was saving mine up for a Full Tilt Poker jersey. I was almost there. I guess I'll go order some random crap and buy my jersey on eBay (assuming that guy isn't a U.S. player). Damn. I probably won't even be able to get one on eBay.

Oh sad.