Last night 10+1 MTT tourney, top 30 paid, about 38 left and I have a slightly above average chip stack. AQs from early, raise it up 3.5x the BB and the button flat calls, flop Q high, I bet the size of the pot, get raised all in ... no choice but to call, as I'm pot committed with top pair top kicker. Guy flips QQ, lovely flop, the one card left in the deck that loses me all my chips happens to flop. A few hands later I'm eliminated in 31st, bubble boy.
Tonight, AQs again, 85 left, top 30 paid again, have about average stack, I'm in the small blind, the button limps, I raise 4x the BB (about ... don't remember the exact raise), BB folds and the button calls. The flop again comes Q high, I bet the pot, guy pushes all in on me and has me covered, flips QTs, and has flopped 2 pair. Again, I'm out with AQs after being in good position to make a run.
MTT's can be so frustrating, to some degree, it's all about avoiding land mines, which I haven't been able to do lately.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Online Gaming Restricted
I'm back, and I thought I'd vent my frustrations at the US government, which has nothing better to do than make a feeble attempt at banning online gaming (isn't there a war going on?).
Outgoing Senator Bill Frist managed to sneak through a bill restricting banks from dealing with gaming sites, and many online poker rooms have withdrawn from the US Market. Many others have stayed, but it appears now that the Dept of Justice is leaning on various entities to make the ban stick. Just a few days ago, the founders of Neteller, an internet bank that many poker players use to fund their accounts, were arrested for money laundering/racketeering.
I would be surprised if these charges hold, but Neteller has already withdrawn from the US Market. It just drives me crazy that my own government wants to tell me what I can and cannot do on the internet ... activity that causes no harm to anyone.
What is most frustrating is that I can drive 20 minutes up the road and play poker to my hearts delight, if I want to pay giant rakes, tip the dealers, and fill the coffers of the B&M casinos, yet I can't play the same game from the privacy of my home. Of course, the states are in with the casinos, they have huge tax dollars at stake.
I'm not sure, but I don't believe there is another major industrialized country that has made any effort to ban online gaming. In fact, some countries leadership has half a brain, and actually regulates and taxes the industry, hmmm, novel idea. Frankly, this country's reputation in the rest of the world has gone from 'respected' to 'laughing stock'. Obviously, there are myriad reasons why we are no longer respected; but, in this specific instance, it revolves around the fact that the government does not trust its citizens enough to have legalized, regulated gambling on the internet; the country that puts as much energy into banning a harmless activity as it does into fixing its school systems.
Outgoing Senator Bill Frist managed to sneak through a bill restricting banks from dealing with gaming sites, and many online poker rooms have withdrawn from the US Market. Many others have stayed, but it appears now that the Dept of Justice is leaning on various entities to make the ban stick. Just a few days ago, the founders of Neteller, an internet bank that many poker players use to fund their accounts, were arrested for money laundering/racketeering.
I would be surprised if these charges hold, but Neteller has already withdrawn from the US Market. It just drives me crazy that my own government wants to tell me what I can and cannot do on the internet ... activity that causes no harm to anyone.
What is most frustrating is that I can drive 20 minutes up the road and play poker to my hearts delight, if I want to pay giant rakes, tip the dealers, and fill the coffers of the B&M casinos, yet I can't play the same game from the privacy of my home. Of course, the states are in with the casinos, they have huge tax dollars at stake.
I'm not sure, but I don't believe there is another major industrialized country that has made any effort to ban online gaming. In fact, some countries leadership has half a brain, and actually regulates and taxes the industry, hmmm, novel idea. Frankly, this country's reputation in the rest of the world has gone from 'respected' to 'laughing stock'. Obviously, there are myriad reasons why we are no longer respected; but, in this specific instance, it revolves around the fact that the government does not trust its citizens enough to have legalized, regulated gambling on the internet; the country that puts as much energy into banning a harmless activity as it does into fixing its school systems.
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