Took 3rd in tonight's Mookie. Yeah, I know I said I was done playing. I lied a little.

My KK went down to worldpoker's AT when he pulled a straight outta thin air. It was like magic, I tell ya!

Had fun though. Now I must sleep.

Online poker is not illegal... at least not any more than it was already illegal, if you live in such a state. Check out this CardPlayer article: "Legal landscape of online poker has not changed"

Made me feel a little better about playing, anyway. The legal experts seem to be avoiding the topic of affiliate revenues, though. And we still have to wait and see if companies like Neteller will shut their doors to US players, making it impossible (or at least more difficult) for us to reload accounts or withdraw winnings. CardPlayer mentioned the possibility of the gaming act not covering check transactions, opening up the possibility of using e-checks to fund accounts.

On a side note... Firefox 2 Release Candidate 2 is out, and I'm running it. My favorite features so far are the x's on the individual tabs in the browser window, and automatic spell check when you're typing in text boxes on a web page (such as, writing this post). Misspelled words get underlined as you type. Sweet.

I got this via email from Full Tilt Poker around 9pm tonight:

Dear phlyersphan,

Full Tilt Poker is here to stay!

As an online poker player, you have probably heard about the new legislation passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this week that attempts to prevent you from being able to transfer money to online gaming sites.

While this new law has prompted some sites to announce plans to abandon the U.S. market in coming days, we assure you that Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide all of its players - both inside and outside of the United States - with a full complement of real money ring games and tournaments for their enjoyment.

After consultation with numerous legal experts in this field, we want to make you aware of the following:

* Legal

The new U.S. legislation does not in any way attempt to criminalize the act of you playing online poker. By playing online at Full Tilt Poker, you are not breaking any U.S. Federal laws.

* Full Access

The passage of the new Internet Gaming law will not have any impact on your day-to-day experience at Full Tilt Poker. We will provide all of our players, everywhere in the world, with full access to all of our games and tournaments.

* Easy Deposits and Withdrawals

We will continue to provide our players with all of the safe, secure and convenient methods for transferring money to and from the site. In fact, in recent discussions with our payment processors, we have been assured that this new law will have no immediate impact on their day-to-day business. And as always, any monies that you have on deposit with Full Tilt Poker remain completely safe and secure.

Furthermore, we firmly believe that online poker is not encompassed by this new legislation. In any event, we will continue to lobby for an express carve-out for online poker and for your right to play a truly American game from the privacy of your own home and computer.

We are excited about the future here at Full Tilt Poker and in the coming weeks and months, we plan to roll out many new features designed to enhance your online poker experience.

We appreciate your loyalty to our site and, in turn, want you to know that we will remain loyal to our valued players in the United States and throughout the world.

We look forward to seeing you at the table.

Sincerely,

Full Tilt Poker

Because I am such a huge chicken shit law abiding citizen of the United States of America, I've removed all of my poker affiliate links from this blog. While I was at it, I went through every single post I've ever made and removed all hyperlinks to online gaming sites. (Scurvy scared me!) It took a few hours. To me, it was better to preserve my tales of what once was than to lose all of that.

Sigh. This sucks.

Last night, I played poker online for the last time. I got killed in the Mookie game, losing most of my stack with QQ vs. KK. I made it to the top 16 or so, but that was it for me. I played in the second chance game and went out on the final table bubble. I was profitable on my cash table, though, so I was able to cash out for more than what I started with. I actually played a little NL at the cash tables, for once.

Upon completing my poker for the evening, I sent a withdrawal request to FTP. Upon waking this morning, my funds had been transferred and should be in my bank account shortly.

I spent the few FPP's I had on PokerStars this morning to get a knit beanie hat. It gets cold here in the winter, and I'll need a hat for my long treks over the border to the Indiana casinos.

I'm all cashed out. No more online poker for me - at least not until we see what happens when this bill is signed into law. I'm lucky to have poker rooms within an hour's drive from my home. I wish Empress hadn't closed their room. A 15 minute drive is so much nicer than an hour. But, that's beyond my control, as is the whole online gaming ban.

It's funny, since playing poker online is illegal in my state anyway. Why abide by the law now? I'm not quite so afraid that playing online poker will be what gets any of us in trouble, since that's not the focus of the gaming ban. It's the banner ad revenue and affiliate links that make some of us criminals now for aiding these online poker sites. That's what makes me nervous.

Oh well. Such is life. Reading through all of my old posts, I saw that I really did spend a lot of time at the casinos - and that was back before Empress had a room. I drove out to Indiana 2 or 3 times a week, for months. I'll just have to go back to doing that. And host more home games :)

Daniel Negreanu has weighed in on the online gaming ban.

In a nutshell: by his understanding, since Neteller is neither a US bank nor an online gaming site, players transferring money to Neteller are not breaking the law, and what Neteller does with your money after you transfer it there is untracable. His assumption is that because Neteller is not a US bank, the US will have no jurisdiction over what it does with the money it holds.

He also expects all privately held online poker sites to continue running, "business as usual," as he puts it.

Negreanu is very clear to say that this is all just his understanding of things, and that it's really all still up in the air until things are signed into law.

I'm playing what will probably be my last night of online poker. I've cashed out everyplace but Full Tilt, and in true Maudie fashion, it's all or nothing tonight. Not that I've got much left to put balls-to-the-wall. I spent most of my poker bankroll selling my old house and buying my new one. It's a sad night, really.

The Mookie tourney starts in 15 minutes or so on FTP. I'm watching opening night of the NHL hockey season in HD on my new TV, which is sweet. Hockey looks ungodly amazing in HD.

Soon, the law abiding citizens amongst us will be all cashed out from the online poker sites. One of these days, I'll have to cancel my affilitate memberships and dig through all of my old posts to remove any links to poker sites. That's not a task I'm looking forward to, but I surely don't want to just delete the contents of this blog and start over. This blog and the community of people I've come to know as a result of writing this blog and reading your blogs is a big part of who I am and who I've been the last couple years. There's no delete key that can remove these past couple years from memory, and there's no law that can break the bonds of friendship that so many of us have formed. Still, things won't be the same as they were. Maybe that's not the worst thing in the world, but it's change that I'm not looking forward to.

So, I encourage you all to come play the Wednesday night Mookie on FTP, this week in honor of DuggleBogey.

And accept the things we cannot change. And vote in the next election.

Full Tilt Poker has the most reasonable response to this online gaming ban that I've seen yet.

God I love FTP.

An Open Letter From Full Tilt Poker Regarding the State of Your Online Poker Experience

Spent some FTP points... I was debating between the duffel bag and the FTP plastic playing cards, but since I already have a set of Kem cards, I figured I'd get more use out of the duffel.





Now I don't have to go buy a jacket.


I think I might make a trip out to the casino tonight. Whaddya think?

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.

Wanna play some fantasy hockey? The One Eyed Jacks league is in its 2nd year. Come join us so I can kick all of your asses. All team management is done online. Email me for details - phlyersphan at gmail dott com

Ain't she gorgeous????




No broken screens here!!!

I have to get to work with the twist ties behind the equipment and clean up that mess, but otherwise I am in a state of pure HD bliss over here. Who cares if my FTP account is down to thirty bucks?? I HAVE A BIG SCREEN HDTV! w00t!

For those of you who haven't invested in Poker Tracker, here's a web site that will replay and animate any hand you've played (cash game or tourney) on Poker Stars - free. Just copy and paste your hand history into it. No downloads required - behold the power of the web! Animated poker hand replayer

Barney's blog isn't a bad read, either! :)

This past Monday, I went to Tweeter and purchased my first ever big screen TV. I got a Mitsubishi 57" DLP projection HDTV - model WD57732 for the videophiles out there. I was absolutely giddy.

Today, the most gorgeous TV I've ever seen was delivered. As the guys took it off of the truck and out of the box, they noticed a slight problem.

Half of the screen had been smashed in, presumably when the TV was loaded onto the truck.

Moment of silence for the big screen.

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They'll be back on Monday with a new TV. I think I finally understand what "blue balls" feel like.

Wow... I say all sorts of nice things about Full Tilt, and all I get in return is....

69 hands, -$169 at 3/6 LHE

I should have walked away after my very first hand. As a bit of history, I specifically chose a table where a known donkey-clown psychopathic maniac was seated, as he's always good for dropping a few hundo. I won't disclose his name here, though WillWonka mozied on over to my table and spent some time with my favorite FTP maniac as well.

My first hand: I raised preflop from late-middle position with 99 after it had been folded to me. Nutcase re-raised me, and I capped (hey, may as well get the money in in case I get lucky against this bozo). I flopped 2nd set on a board of 9-Q-2 rainbow. He bet. I raised. He 3-bet and I called. The turn came a 4, still rainbow. He checked, I bet, he raised, I called. Does this whackjob seriously have pocket Queens? The river came a ten. He bet. I saw the writing on the wall. The jackass was pushing his weight around all that time with a gutshot draw. Bastard's got KJ. I call. He sure did have KJ.

I reloaded and buckled in on my quest to get my money back from the joker, but alas, he hit and run, hanging around for a few more hands before blowing that pop stand. I watched my player list for a few minutes, hoping he'd sit down elsewhere so I could change tables, but no luck.

I didn't last long before my state of mind was so battered that I deemed it necessary to log off before I flushed my bankroll down the drain.

Oh well. Tomorrow, they say, is another day.

I hopped over to Poker Stars today for a little lunchtime change of pace (since my regular poker site is Full Tilt). Man... FTP has really spoiled me. It seems I am actively irritated by any software other than FTP. Full Tilt is smooth and slick... convenient and efficient... and the audio effects don't mimick nails down a chalkboard.

What can I say? I'm a Full Tilt Poker kinda girl.

Another poker nuisance this week... and all weeks really... I can never play in the WWdN tourneys, because I work on Tues and Thurs nights. Waaa. You peeps should make more Mon/Wed tourneys! Yeah! And how about on Full Tilt? LOL

OK I'm done amusing myself. It's time to go to work. Tomorrow, I'll be attending my 20th Dave Matthews Band show. I expect some insane inebriation. Until next time....

Reprinted from: How to dissuade yourself from becoming a blogger

What a buzz all the bloggers are making these days! It seems like just about everybody is pouring their musings into a text box. Are you feeling tempted to start a blog of your own? Here are some ways to bypass the trend.

Warnings

• The information you post on the Internet is likely to linger for years and years to come, as web pages are archived by "snapshot" services like the Wayback Machine. Once it's out there, you can't take it back. An employer running a Google search on your name years down the line might be turned off by your now documented obsession with your cat.

Just so ya know I'm still playing some poker...

Amidst the insanity of selling my house, buying a new one, and moving this weekend, I did manage to play a little bit on Full Tilt Poker. I took 2nd place in a $36 turbo NLHE sit n go, and managed to squeak a nice little 16BB win out of a couple 3/6 LHE tables over about an hour's time. I miss the casino poker room dearly, and hopefully as things settle down a bit around here, I'll have more time to make the trek out to Resorts in Indiana. I heard that Horseshoe is supposed to open a big poker room sometime... vague recollection puts it at the end of this year? Don't quote me on that.

The house closings and the move went well. I've done some painting around here, and have begun the laborious task of unpacking. I have a lot of shit for one person! The good news is, DirecTV was already here (so I'm set for NHL Center Ice and the start of the hockey season), and the cable company hooked up my cable internet on Friday. I've got the home network all set up as well as the Vonage phones, and my office is mostly put back together.

The fun part is yet to come: shopping! On the shopping list:

- A big screen HDTV (I'm going for a DLP projection TV and am debating between the 65" screen and the 50-something" screen)
- A new entertainment center
- A new sectional couch

I've got the furniture all picked out. I just have to go buy it :)

Back to unpacking...

Lucky readers: today I share with you my "duh!" moment of the day.

Game: limit hold'em
Venue: online
Scenario: you are in the small blind and action has folded around to you

Tip: RAISE!

OK... so I've always kept in mind the strategy of raising when you're the BIG blind in this situation (as you'll have position on the small blind throughout the hand), but here's the thing with playing online... when multi-tabling, often people check their starting cards in the big blind and hit the check/fold button, thinking, "I'll see a flop if the pot is unraised, but it's not good enough of a hand to call a raise." I never thought much past that when I'm in the big blind. But today, I realized that since so many people click that check/fold button and shift their attention to their other table, a raise from the small blind triggers that insta-fold. If the big blind player isn't watching the table and uses thost auto-action checkboxes, you win.

I know. It's so obvious. I've now stopped using that auto-act check/fold button on hands that I might like to play heads-up. I still use it for hands I won't play no matter what, but otherwise I'll wait to act in turn - just in case action folds around to the small blind.

I had a fantastic 40 minutes at 3/6 today, nearly tripling my money. I'm wearing some lucky 4-leaf clover earrings that my mom got me from Ireland, and they've been granting me crazy luck! First my win Friday night, then a decent profit online last night, and today a SWEET win! I'm heading over to the Diamond game in a little bit... let's hope my luck continues! Mama needs a new couch! :)

As you might have noticed, it's been a cricket haven around here since the WPBT Summer Classic. August 2006 has been a pretty crazy month for me. It's going to go out like a lion, too - but that's OK.

When I got home from Vegas, I put the finishing touches on a deep-clean of my house, did a little staging and put my house on the market. You see - I'm currently in an adjustable rate mortgage, and I'm only locked in for another couple years. I want to lock in while the rates are still reasonable, and lock in for 30 years. Problem is, I've outgrown my house. When I investigated what kind of sales price I might get for this place (where I've lived for about 4 1/2 years now), I was floored. Cashing in on my equity to pay off some debt, invest a bit, and buy a bigger place was a no-brainer, and in the end, my monthly expenses will be less than they are now. Win-win.

I got 2 contracts on my house the first day it was on the market. I picked one and put up the sold sign. I'd already looked at some new places and had my heart set on a townhouse on a golf course, with a creek and the course as my back yard. My realtor said it's a great course (I don't golf), so it's not likely to get bulldozed and replaced with a WalMart. Sold. The rest of August was spent shmoozing with appraisers and home inspectors, and haggling with my buyers over miscellaneous crap. They ended up being the buyers from hell, but in light of the fact that this process is almost over, I'm going to try and stay upbeat in hopes that it will carry into some good karma and a smooth closing.

I close on my sale and my purchase at the end of this month. I'm moving the same day. It's gonna be a crazy day. I hired movers, though, because I'm too old to deal with that crap. I've learned the value of service in my old age.

I also went back to work mid-August. I've just finished my first week of classes. It's been a bit chaotic on that end, too, but since this is the weekend, I don't feel like rehashing anything that might bring me down. I'll leave work at work, for once.

ForPeyton.com has been a fantastic experience as well, and is the spearhead of a handful of web site projects I've been doing this month in my side-business. Nothing like being so busy your head might explode!

In terms of poker, I haven't made it out to the casinos this month. Actually, I took a cash advance from my bankroll to fix up my house to sell it. I plan to replenish from the proceeds of my house sale next week. I've been limited to online poker, of course at Full Tilt. I was doing quite well sticking to the "no cash games" rule in online poker. At the donkey limits (I play between 2/4 and 3/6 online), I just can't seem to outrun the luck of the fishes, despite the fact that my Poker Tracker stats are precisely where I want them to be. I haven't hit the 10,000 hand mark since my hard drive crashed last spring, though, so I need a bigger sample size to know if I'm really just getting unlucky. I crave limit hold'em, though, so despite the fact that the place I'm profitable online is in sit-n-go's, I can't help but sit down at the limit tables every so often.

Last night, I took down first place (out of 10) at my cousin's weekly drunken home game. I've been playing nearly every week there the entire summer, and this was my first win. The game is frequented by players who will routinely find themselves all in at the river, but have not yet looked at their cards. It's hard to outrun the lucky ones. The ironic thing last night was that I showed up without any cash on me, so I announced at the outset that I was going to win because that's the only way I wouldn't owe anybody money. I should show up penniless more often. It came down to me and my cousin Tracy. Luckily for me, she was quite drunk and I was getting quite lucky, so things went down pretty quickly.

Despite the fact that I still have a ridiculous amount of packing to do, I'm going to head over to the Diamond Game for a little poker action tomorrow afternoon. If today goes as planned, I'll be almost done packing. Then I can finish up Sunday morning, and hopefully spend Monday doing one last deep clean on the house. Tuesday and Wednesday I have to work, and the buyers will likely do a final walkthrough on Wednesday sometime, so I need to have the place ready to go by then. Thursday is The Big Day.

Here's hoping for a heavenly experience with the buyers from hell! I'll be back on the felt after Labor Day weekend - I promise!