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La Cocaína

I came across this earlier today and had to snap a pic. I probably could have used this back in the day while trying to play online poker late night...

posted by TripJax @ 6:51 PM, ,




The DOJ, Full Tilt Poker and My 800th Post

As it turns out, this here is my 800th post.  That is equal parts awesome and lame at the same time.  It's awesome because that's quite a bit of writing and work over the years and, considering so many blogs come and go, I'm happy to make it this far; that said, it's also a bit lame as I've been writing here since 2004, so you'd think I'd have way more posts.  For any regular readers here, you'll recognize I've been known to take time off between my posts, especially since Black Friday.  I say it often, but maybe this post will be the next spark I need to get back into writing here regularly.

My main reason for today's post is to see how many of you out there recently received the email from Full Tilt about filing a petition with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to request any available account balance?  I've included a pic of the email within this post for reference.  I don't know about you, but I certainly don't have enough money in my account to try and cause a stink by contacting the DOJ directly regarding my funds.  Maybe I'm being naive to think that avoidance keeps me out of the mix of potential issues, but what do I know?  I'm sure there are folks out there with life changing amounts of money tied up that would warrant attempting next steps, but that's not the case with me.  I always attempted to keep just the right amount of fun money available online in order to enjoy some occasional cash games or tourneys, without worrying that money I needed could be gone.  I really do feel for folks who had a sizable amount on deposit with any gaming site that is now frozen.

I hope everyone out there in the poker blogger world has been doing well.  Drop a comment if you have any input regarding the above info.

Until next time, may the felt be with you.

posted by TripJax @ 11:12 AM, ,




Live Table Gaming, Including Poker, Coming To North Carolina

I'm a week late, but can't let the below press release pass without mention. It's about time some legal poker is headed to NC, even if it's limited to one area. Full press release listed below...

*****************

State of North Carolina
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

June 6, 2012
Contact: Chris Mackey
Office: (919) 733-5612

Gov. Perdue Signs Cherokee Economic Development Legislation
Law Paves the Way for 400 New Jobs

RALEIGH – Gov. Bev Perdue today signed into law legislation securing the agreement between the State of North Carolina and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee that is expected to create 400 new jobs in western North Carolina. The 30-year compact, which the Governor and Cherokee leaders signed last month, will allow the Cherokee to offer live table gaming.

The agreement will provide for the state to receive a share of revenue generated from these new games, and that money will be directed to classroom education.

“The Cherokee have been good stewards of the money from their gaming enterprises, investing it in the lives of their people and the people of western North Carolina. They will continue to help their tribe and their neighbors with this new revenue,” Gov. Perdue said during a signing ceremony in the old House chamber in the Capitol. “This was a bipartisan endeavor – Republicans and Democrats allied in an effort to create opportunity. This agreement is a terrific example of how we can still work together and defy the unfortunate expectations of a polarized and often contentious political environment.”

The agreement still must be approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior before taking effect.



posted by TripJax @ 7:20 AM, ,




Neteller Memories

NetFailer
Last year my old car, White Lightning, finally succumbed to old age. She was born in 1995 and had served our family well, soldiering through some pretty tough years. When I cleaned out her trunk I was able to fill two bags with a bunch of random stuff. Rather than go through it all right away, I tossed the bags into our storage room and went about my way. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I decided to go through the bags and man did I find some interesting stuff. I've decided to share a couple of the items I came across here on the ole blog.


For my first entry, I offer up a picture of an old poker debit card. So who among my readers recalls the Neteller debit/withdrawal card? Oh those were the days. You could play some poker from the comfort of your own home, then actually get your money out of your account. Novel idea, eh? I'm rather sure I'm making the old Neteller days sound better than they actually were, but just the idea of playing poker online without concern, knowing I'd have access to my money was a good feeling. It feels like forever ago that I could make that statement (and honestly my recollection was getting money off most sites was like pulling a rhino's sore tooth). And let me just note this now - oh my what a fuck up Neteller ended up becoming due to the UIGEA. It looks as though they are still in business for sites outside of the U.S., but methinks my card is ready for shredding time.


I still have high hopes for online poker, but I no longer worry about it or wait for the latest news. Sure I still read multiple poker news blogs as well as blogs of friends who continue to write, but I just don't concern myself with where I fit into it all anymore. Someday I'll play online again, but in the meantime, an occasional home game or casino trip is where I'm comfy. I hope all my readers are doing well and enjoying 2012. I'm ready to play some cheap/fun poker sometime soon, so if any of my fellow NC/SC poker peeps have any games planned soon, keep me in the loop.


Until next time, may the felt be with you.

posted by TripJax @ 8:33 PM, ,




Gettin' Hammered

Chapel (far back, 3rd from right) w/ AceTenBomber & Crew
Many of my readers have had a chance to meet my brother, Chapel, in person over the last several years either through blogger events or tournaments.  What some of you may not know is he is kicking out quality poker content over at his blog, Gettin' Hammered.  In addition, with my online poker play taking a nose dive since poker's black Friday earlier this year, he's playing way more poker than I am with various cash games and tournaments (including quite a few charity tournaments in and around North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia).

In the past year Chapel has traveled to Canada with the AceTenBomber team (pictured above), where he played at The Montreal Open (here are Part 1 and Part 2 trip reports on his blog).  He has also been interviewed on Short Stacked Radio, a new poker radio station that debuted in July of this year, boasting some pretty impressive interviewees, such as Phil Hellmuth, who was recently on with the Short Stack crew.  One other experience he managed this year was taking down a bad beat jackpot at one of his various underground games.  I can't say I've ever taken down a big bad beat haul like he did, but just hearing the story, several times by several people in one weekend, made me feel like I was there.  If you ever get the chance to meet Chapel - he's also known as TheGetSomeGuy by some - be sure to ask him about the bad beat jackpot.

If you enjoy reading poker content and are looking for another great blog to add to your RSS reader, be sure to jump over to Chapel's blog and give it a gander.  Hook him up with a few comments as well.  I know he'd love to see you visit.

Until next time, may the felt be with you.



posted by TripJax @ 8:28 PM, ,




Bubble Protection - An Online Poker Tournament Bubble Safety Net

I came across the Bubble Protection concept from reading a recent UK PokerNews article a little while ago.  Shame I'm not able to try the service out since I'm in the U.S. and not eligible.  If anyone reads this and gives it a try, please comment and let me know about the experience.


From their How It Works page:

The "bubble" is the last finishing position in a poker tournament before entering the tournament payout structure "in the money". Typically the "bubble" refers to a single or small number of positions outside the last finishing position. BubbleProtection.com covers a "new bubble" that is calculated at 10% of the total number of tournament entrants. By way of example, if one thousand players enter an online tournament, the "new bubble" covered by the Bubble Protection policy would be 100 positions (10% of total entrants) outside of the tournament payout structure.
At the BubbleProtection.com website a player simply types in his online player name (or names), and selects a tournament or tournaments from our insured daily tournament schedule. An automatic premium calculation will appear and ask the player if he wishes to purchase the protection. The player is asked to select payment type, register player information, agree to terms and conditions and the one time/one tournament policy is issued. Players have up to ten minutes after a tournament starts to purchase Bubble Protection.
BubbleProtection.com technology tracks all the insured players (policyholders) in the tournament and automatically verifies the players finishing position (according to the poker site standings) in real time. If the player finishes outside "the new bubble" or within the tournament payout structure at the end of the tournament the policy is then void and terminated. If, however, the player falls within "the new bubble" the player's account at BubbleProtection.com will be automatically credited the total of the tournament fee and the poker site rake fee. Accounts are credited within 30 minutes after the completion of a tournament.
It is the player's option to keep the credit balance on his BubbleProtection.com account or have the account balance or any amount in it returned to the player. Players can access their account and have any amount returned simply by requesting a check or a transfer through their Moneybookers account. All requests for payment will be processed and funds forwarded via the payment process of the player’s choice by 5:00 pm PST the next business day.

I haven't spent enough time reviewing this to determine if it's worth it, but I love seeing new concepts brought into poker, so I hope it has some positives to bring to the game.  Insurance has been around for a long, long time, so I'm not saying this is anything that will boggle the mind, but you catch my drift.


Until next time, may the felt be with you.

posted by TripJax @ 3:03 PM, ,




Big-Ups To Lana For Borgata Bad Ass Tournament Run

Congrats are in order for LJ who managed to land a 1st AND 2nd place finish this past weekend in the Ladies Event and Event #3 at the 2011 Borgata Fall Poker Open.  Oh and she's preggers too, which amazes me that she could handle multiple long tournament formats.  My wife is nearing 9 months pregnant and knowing the discomfort she has gone through these last few months further solidifies how impressive Lana's run was this past weekend.

And like ColonelPoker mentioned in the above link, she has some eh-splainin to do considering she clearly broke the one player to a hand rule.  I guess she gets a free pass this time around.  If it's true babies can hear and react to sounds around them, such as babies listening to classical music, then hopefully her baby will soak up some poker strategy and pop out already knowing the basic strategy as well as poker terms, such as fish, slowplay and bad beat.

'Grats on an awesome run LJ and good luck with the baby.  I remember when ChickJax had our first child like it was 10 years ago...erm...'cause it was 10 years ago.

Picture cred to theborgata.com here.


posted by TripJax @ 7:22 PM, ,