hello friends, im new and this is my first blog, a little about me.
im married with two beautiful kids izabella(bella) 2yrs and giovanni(gino) 1yr, im a stay at home dad and play alot of poker. ive been playing online for about 6 months and been playing poker for about 4 years. i hope i can contribute something to someone who needs it, thanks for reading this i hope its not too long. good luck on and off the felts.
June 25th, 2008
Washington, D.C. (June25, 2008) – Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with over one million members nationwide, today issued the following statement on the House Financial Services Committee’s failure to pass H.R. 5767, the “Payment Systems Protection Act,” by a vote of 32-32.
“The PPA is surprised that the Financial Services Committee today failed to clarify what constitutes ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The King Amendment would have required a separate formal rulemaking with an administrative law judge to determine the definition of unlawful Internet gambling.
“The Federal Reserve, Department of Treasury and the banking industry have all testified before Congress that the lack of a definition of ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ makes it extremely difficult if not impossible to enforce this law and would result in a broader review and denial of financial transactions because they could possibly be deemed unlawful under UIGEA.
“It is disappointing to realize that opponents of this legislation still do not truly understand the intent of the bill. It was clear today that those who oppose this bill chose to focus on emotional and non-germane issues, such as the harmful impact of gambling on children, instead of on the merits of the bill itself.
“As it stands, UIGEA is a completely unworkable and unenforceable bill that would do little to address the main concerns of its sponsors – namely, protecting underage and compulsive gamblers as well as cracking down on money laundering. To truly address these issues, the PPA firmly believes that Congress should implement thoughtful and effective regulation of the online gambling industry as opposed to outright prohibitions, which history has shown do not work.
“Unfortunately, debate over the morality of gambling trumped debate on the fact that UIGEA is completely ineffective and unenforceable.”
The Poker Players Alliance (www.pokerplayersalliance.org) is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of over 1,000,000 online and offline poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game and to protect poker players’ rights.
Media Contact:
Teresa Schofield
(202) 347-7516
tschofield@theheraldgroup.com
This was something that I had wrote back in Dec. of 2004 on an old blog I had. Being off for a few weeks brings back these thoughts...
I'm tryingto get my thoughts together and see what it would take for be to be able to play for a living. Things to consider:
1. What size poker bankroll should I have to start?
2. What site should I play at?
3. Multi-Table ($2/4 or $3/6) Single table $5/10?
4. How should I pay myself?
5. How long could I really do this?
6. What happens afterwards when I have a years gap in employment history?
7. Insurance is not a problem!
8. What will I be saving vs. not going to work every day?
9. Am I good enough to do this for a living?
Anyone playing for a living now? What advice do you have? What have I not thought of? What are some roadblocks that you had to over come?
After a long lay off from the poker tables I've finally been able to get some time in this week. I've played the $10 MTT on Full Tilt Poker 3 timesand cash once, but should have done much better. The first night I'm not really counting cause the event started at midnight and my ISP decided that would be a good time to go out. So I missed about 45 mins and got blinded down to where I had to make a coin flip call due to the size of the blinds.
So the last two I played are the ones that I have been upset with my play. In the second event I was able to play tight the first 2 hours and had some great hands hit when I did play that paid me off. I was able to get up to the top 30 after the 2nd break. Here is where my play did not change. I was the big stack at the table for most of the time, but I never mixed it up or changed my style of play. After playing too tight for the hour I ended up getting short stacked and finished around 90th. Not bad for 1600 players, but I did not give myself a chance to get in position to go for a final table.
In the thrid tourney I had the deck hit me in the face the first hour and was in the top 5 after the first hour. Here again I did not have the feel for the table to be able to play the big stack like I should have. The rust is really showing in my game, and outside being able to play ABC poker I don't feel like I have the touch around the table as I've had in the past. By playing too tight in this event I got stuck in the big blind with AK suited and having to push all in. This play ended up putting me on the bubble exactly and after 3 hours of playing I had zero to show for it.
The only way to get over this that I know is to grind it out and keep playing. Hopefuly I can get this rust worn off quickly, so pass me the WD-40.
A bill that would have forced Federal officials to decide if online poker should be considered gambling failed to make it past the House Financial Services Committee in June. Instead, Barney Frank and Ron Paul’s H.R. 5767 “Payment Systems Protection Act,” which would have stopped the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) until the federal government defined exactly what constitutes online gambling, was met with a 32-32 vote that broke along party lines, with a few notable exceptions.
All but four Democrats voted to move this bill forward and all but three Republicans voted against the bill (six Democrats were absent, as were six Republicans). Bill co-sponsor Rep. Paul and Rep. Peter King, who wrote an amendment to the bill that would require even more clarity to the UIGEA, were two of the three Republicans voting for the bill. There were also several members of Congress absent from both sides of the 70-strong House Financial Services Committee.
The Democrats who voted against the bill are Rep. Maxine Waters (CA), Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY), Rep. Brad Miller (NC), and Rep. David Scott (GA). The Republicans who voted for the bill are Rep. Paul, Rep. King, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA).
A list of the Congress members who make up the House Financial Services Committee can be found at financialservices.house.gov/who.html. This page includes links to the member's homepages where poker players can easily contact them, if so desired.
The UIGEA calls for banks to stop illegal online gambling transactions, but neither the proposed rules as jointly written by the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board nor the actual UIGEA define exactly what kind of transactions the banks must stop.
Opponents of the UIGEA feel that banks, which process more than a billion transactions each day in the U.S., will be overly cautious and stop not only the obvious gambling transactions to online casinos but also any transaction that has to do with a card game or sporting event.
Conservative religion-based organizations warned their allies against this bill. For example, the large organization Focus on the Family warned its members that if H.R. 5767 were passed, it would mean America would experience the largest expansion of gambling in its history. It called for its members to contact thier representatives to express their outrage over this bill.
Representatives of the banks who spoke at all of the hearings concerning the UIGEA, as well as representatives from the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board, repeatedly asked members of Congress to clarify the UIGEA’s reference to “illegal online gambling.” Speaking through this vote, the members declined.
What’s Next?
H.R. 5767 is now dead, but there are four Congressional bills still alive and kicking that online poker aficionados and industry insiders should keep their eyes on. They are:
H.R. 2046
Introduced by Rep. Frank April 26, 2007, and also called the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007, this bill would give states the power to decide individually whether or not they want to allow online gambling. It’s currently in the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection with 48 cosponsors.
H.R. 2140
Introduced by Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV) May 3, 2007, this bill calls for the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study in order to identify the proper response of the United States to the growth of Internet gambling. It remains in the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. It has 73 cosponsors.
H.R. 2610
Introduced by Rep. Robert Wexler (FL) June 7, 2007, this bill calls for certain games, poker included, to be legally defined as games of skill. If passed, poker, as an official skill game, would be exempted from the UIGEA. It remains in the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security with 22 cosponsors.
H.R. 2607
Introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott June 7, 2007, this bill would change the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate Internet gambling. It has one cosponsor and remains in House Committee on Ways and Means.
The Poker Players Alliance provides links to the text and history of all of these bills, as well as state bills, and is worth a visit for anyone interested in poker law.
Dear Fellow Poker Player,
Voting is the single most important action you can take as a citizen of this great country. Speaking as a former U.S. Senator, I can tell you that people who don’t exercise their right to vote simply aren’t part of the equation of political power.
The 2008 election will be the most critical in modern history, and poker players like you across the nation must be part of it if we are to continue making progress in our shared cause.
Our nation is closely divided, and our recent elections have been decided by razor-thin margins. In this political climate, every vote counts and every election matters. Every single day in our nation’s capital, thousands of people make decisions about the rules that we all must live under. Your vote is the single most powerful tool to influence these decisions.
Thank you for taking this very important first step in the political process, and please remember to vote on your state’s primary election day and the national general election, Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Remember - If You Play, Have a Say!
Proud to play poker,
Alfonse D’Amato, Chairman
Poker Players Alliance