Dear Diary

Online Poker is RUNNING now!

It’s seriously painful that US online poker players are still stuck in the mire of mud wrestling –  rules supplied by the DoJ. I still can’t grasp the fact that the ‘big 3’ went down on April 15th but there are others still running that serve US players – or as those sites would like it phrased ‘everyone in the world can play.’  Why isn’t someone suing the DoJ for unfair practices? If one is guilty, they are all guilty, right?  Did the DoJ spend all those months and millions of dollars just finding ways to trap the big 3?  It should have been a net that got everyone – or nothing at all.

So while the US players are locked out of PokerStars, there’s a league going on that has a $10,000 final event – with tournaments, leaderboard points, and cash added along the way THAT THE REST OF THE WORLD can play in. I’m jealous.  Read all about it here – and then make sure you pick your *wild card* event for double points and leave a comment with the required info here.

BTW – The PPA is still busy, still working on online poker in the US. Visiting this page brings you updates on how to contact your representatives in congress and how to get things done – all from the comfort of your chair.  This is the latest ‘we the people’ poker petition to President Obama! Just do it!

“We the People” Poker Petition to President Obama
Directions on how to sign the “We the People Petition”

We the People is a new addition to the White House website that allows Americans to petition the Obama Administration on a range of issues. Per the site, “if a petition gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it is sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response.”

The site is getting a lot of traffic, so you may get either a “site is under maintenance” or a “404 not found” message. Just try it a few times and you’ll get through. Even with this slight delay, it should take only a few minutes to complete:
  1. Go HERE and click “CREATE AN ACCOUNT.”
  2. The site will send a confirmation email. Click on the link in that email to continue.
  3. Click “? SIGN THIS PETITION” to vote (if you are not redirected automatically, go HERE to vote). (Please note that even if you sign the petition you can voluntarily exclude yourself from receiving emails and information from the White House.)
  4. Send a prefilled, editable Twitter message to invite others to sign this petition HERE.
 Find every way you can to scream and yell and push online poker in the US.  I sent an email to AARP and to the PPA – asked them both to join together to let the government know that online poker is played by baby boomers and we want to play it AND it would also ease some of our national debt if it was licensed, regulated, etc.  I got back the usual canned answers that come from people in New Delhi or the outer regions of nowhere off the coast of Neverwas.  WAKE UP people! If everyone that is a member of AARP put some muscle into it, we’d be playing poker tomorrow – without any issues – at all the online poker sites.
On the thread of life, things are good.  I’m still alive and kicking.  My dog loves me.  I love her.  I’m heading in to Vegas in a few to pick up his Riotness from school.  I can hardly wait!  It’s been 3 weeks now since the family reunion finished up and he’s missed.
I did have another interesting dental visit.  I’ll save that for another day.