That's right folks, you very well may be finished playing online poker for a while. The British money transfer co.  NETeller has closed it's virtual doors to ALL American poker business. The two founders of the company, Canadians  Stephan Lawrence, and John Lefebvre, have been charged with conspiracy to transfer funds with the intent to promote illegal gambling. They could both be sentenced to 20 years of prison under the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006".

   The law, that passed both the House and Congress, and was signed by Pres. Bush, was enacted as part of Homeland security, and was designed to make it illegal for credit card companies to collect payments for bets. The law did not make playing online poker illegal, that jurisdiction is still held by the individual states, but this is going to make playing legally extremely difficult.

  When the law first came in to being, most of the publicly traded poker sites immediately pulled out of the American market. A few "Privately Held" companies (  FullTiltPoker,  BODOG,  among others ) still offered their services, but many were holding their collective breath until the full scope of the law came into fruition. Well, the shoe has dropped.

   If you are one of the millions of Americans who have accounts at these sites, you should have already received notification that your funds are safe. FullTilt is suggesting alternative avenues if you wish to withdraw your money. Click2Pay, and ePassporte are two that they are working with to aid your transactions.

   MY TAKE:     This has been a while in the making, and it's not going away anytime soon. As my friend ShooterB so eloquently stated, this is a BILLION $$ a year business, and 'Ol Uncle Sam just wants to get his "Fair Share". The U.S. has been in the gambling game for many years now,.IE:  taxing the Casinos and the ever popular Lootery.... I mean Lottery... They want to put a hold on all this money, until they can figure a good way to get it to siphon through them, and therefore be able to peel off their piece. So..... you  I-Net Poker junkies will have to wait a couple months/ years before you can get your gambling fix.

Me.... I'm going where "Real Poker" has always been.... in the Casinos, and in the backrooms and alleys around this great land..... Live and In Color!!

Like always... that's my story.................

special thanx to....... FullTiltPoker / Bluff Magazine / Casino City Times / ShooterB / and the Future X

    As the reigning champion of Foxsports.com/blogs poker,  (see ShooterB's blog for details, and this title was "borrowed" from him, so thanx shooter.) I thought I might pontifacate a bit on the subject.

   First, let's discuss terminology. Poker , like many activities, has it's own proprietary vocabulary. In Texas hold 'em ,you are dealt two cards face down. These are known as your "hole" cards. Then 5 cards are intermittently dealt face up, and these are referred to as the "community" cards. Everyone shares these.

  The first three community cards are called the "flop".

  The next one is called either "fourth street" or the "turn".

  The last card is "fifth street" or , more popular... "the river".

  If your two hole cards are of equal value, then you have what is known as a "wired pair"    (I.E.: K/K or 3/3)  ** From this point forward... A = ace/ K = king/ Q = queen/ J = jack, and the numbers represent themselves...

  Here's where it gets cool... different starting hands (hole cards) have developed names to represent them. Here are a few that I know about....

   A/A =   these get called bullets, points, or American Airlines...

   A/K =  This is generally called "big slick" but lately... Anna Kournacova.. (sure looks good, but rarely actually wins anything..)

  K/K = Cowboys (pretty dull...huh)

  Q/Q = ladies, ####es, or you can say "the Hilton sisters" which I kinda like...

   J/J = jakes, or fish hooks...

   Those are the obvious ones. They have stood the test of time, but there are some obscure ones that I find kinda funny.... like.....

    J/4= is called the Flat tire....as in... "Hey, whats the jack for...?"

    Q/3 = is a "#### waiter".... it's a queen with a tray.... get it???.........ahem.......

    10/2= is the "Doyle Brunson", or the texas dolly... Doyle is the Godfather of modern poker, and has won TWO!!!!  WSOP main events (ten WSOP bracelets total) with that hand!!! It's a #### hand, and I would suggest that everyone who isn't Doyle fold it the second you see it...

    8/8 is double infinity.. (the mathmatical symbol for infinity is an 8 squashed down, and laying on it side.....really... I wouldn't make that up!!)

   There are probably several more that I've not heard of, or forgotten, so please feel free to add to the list......

  There are several etiquette rules in the game (who woulda thunk that), but I have two that I'm really passionate about....

  1. DON'T SPLASH THE POT!!!  This is where you throw your chips in the center, and no one sees what amount you had. Especially don't do this with a phony Russian accent!!!! ( see John Makolvich in the movie "Rounders")

  2. DON'T react to the community cards if you're NOT IN THE HAND!!!  If you folded a 7/2, and the flop comes out 7-7-2...... Don't act like you just made the biggest poker mistake ever.... You folded cards that will only win 1% of the time... just because this is the one time out of a hundred.... you already folded them..... let me act like I have them.....and I'll do the same for you...

  I'm not going to debate the whole poker ain't a sport thing here....but you should not treat it like a hobby either. Fishing is a hobby.... and after you get a boat, buy gas, rods and reels, and bait.....it can become a very expensive hobby! Poker will get expensive too... so you should treat it like a job.

  There are several good books out there on Texas hold 'em, and they can all help increase your skill level. Here are some that I recommend....

  Anything written by *David Sklansky or *Barry Schulman... these guys cover everything needed for the novice or the pro. They read like a text book.... so have a highlighter, a pad and a pencil with you when you're reading. *Doyle Brunson's "Super System" is a must read for anybody who wants to play any type of poker. I am currently reading *Phil Gorden"s "Little Green Book", and have found it to be like having a conversation with one of the top players in the business.... so I recommend that as well.

  So.... Ya'll have fun, and remember....... A Chip and a Chair.... can make you a Millionaire!!!

  Like always.... that's my story.........

  Post Script.... Thanks again to ShooterB and Saxman, and Ricko for allowing me to participate in the "First FoxSports Bloggers Poker Tournament"    I had fun!!!!

As I've been rambling around our little Bloggersville community recently, I've noticed several among us lamenting poker being shown on ESPN. It's been stated that since it's not a real sport, it should'nt be there. I'd like to address this if I may....

First, I'm a poker player. I play no less than two nights a week in LIVE cash games, and have been known to make it to a table three or four nights. I get four or five tournaments (LIVE) a month, and dabble on some of the online sites. (They don't hold my attention very long, and I wind up "stuck on stupid" and lose my roll.) 

I realize that the "S" in ESPN stands for sports, so I consulted with my old friend  Dan'l Webster for some enlightenment.

sport  n. 1. any recreational activity; specific. a game, competition etc., requiring bodily exertion.

Now......rec. activity, game, competition, I'm sure everyone will agree, poker meets those requirements. But, what about the bodily exertion part? Well......... If you've ever had 1 Vente cappacino/ frappacino , 2 bottles of water, 1 cheap hoagie from the snackbar, and then had to wait 3 HOURS for the next bathroom break, then you know.  You are USING some muscles!!! ( Not sure which muscles exactly, but I'm sure Miracle or Flying Pig could help there. They seem to know a lot about those kinds of things.) The clock never moves so slowly, as when you're short stacked, AND seconds from "blowin' a gasket!!!

The thing that I think some people may have forgotten is, the "E" in ESPN stands for entertainment. The "Boys in Bristol" seem to thing that enough folks will watch to make it profitable for them to produce, and broadcast the entire event. And it looks like they are right, sure does seem to be alot of commercials during the broadcast, and the replays. They even had the final table on pay-per-view this year! Someones makin' coin or you would have never seen it on TV to start with. Big profits tend to entertain the guys at ESPN.

Now...for those of you who would just like it to go away, fear not. I don't believe you'll have to bear this much longer. They have created a monster that they can't control.

( **editors note** Have Siddartha or South. Cindy put a shot of Peter Doyle as the monster in Young Frankenstein here..)

The WSOP has grown to the point where it can't be controled and monitored in one casino any more. There were over 8600 players this year, and it took four actual days just to complete day 1 of the event. Add to that, poker being shown on the Travel channel, FSN, and even BRAVO!!!! ( That drunk nancy-boy Dave Foley should go back in the hall, or the closet.... just go away!!)  And....anybody who really cared about who won was either already there, or found out on the Web / email. INSTANTLY!!

 I'll bet ol' Benny Binion never saw all this coming.......................

That's my story anyway............as always, your comments are greatly appreciated....