Stupid Online Poker
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Did anyone else notice that the most recent software update from FullTilt sucks?! I mean, sucks HARD. I am all for improvements, but one of the things I loved about FT was their "Last Hand" button, which shows a visual representation of the hand at the end and the text in a chat box. Now, they seem to have some sorta player that replays the last hand, including all action, something that PokerStars added months ago. The problem was, the Last Hand button didn't work. Each time I checked back, all I got was a blank table with no information.
I think the problem is even deeper than that because my PokerTracker/PokerAce HUD (yes, I know, those programs are out of date) didn't work either, which seems to suggest that I was not getting my hand histories. I'm sure it will resolve itself, but I find it mildly annoying.
To make matters MUCH worse, the new program also grinded my computer's speed down to a trickle. Again, this might be something else, like my Internet connection, but I ended up timing out of a couple of hands, including one where I was dealt AQs and was a shortstack.
Lately, I've really considered just withdrawing every cent I have online. I already withdrew the money I won from the BBT4 and have incorporated the majority of the funds to my live poker bankroll. Of course, wifey Kim got a taste first. Women are the rake. Fortunately, my rake is a piece of ass. Oh, and she's nice too.
Riggstad is in the middle of a series of posts about his expectations for online poker's future. Rigg is actually a very impressive and knowledgeable guy, so I'm interested to see what he has to say. I still maintain, however, that legalizing online poker would be terrible. Let's be real for a moment. It's all about money, right? So the government is going to tax the shit out of the sites as well as the users. I figure it's a no-brainer that any law will require US-licensed sites to submit win/loss statements to the IRS, and may even require prior win/loss statements. Of course, for a guy like myself who pays all of his taxes, that's no big deal, but if there are players out there not paying their taxes on winnings, particularly big winners, they'll be ripe targets for tax evasion charges. Consider THAT scenario. Now consider the fact that the government is likely to take a bare minimum of 30% of your winnings. And if you want to account your losses, you need to itemize your deductions (at least under current law). Granted, with legalized online poker, there will be more donkeys in the sea, but will they offset the taxes taken out of your winnings and the likely increased rake (which will be implemented to help the sites pay their taxes).
All I'm saying is, as we all know, the Golden Age of Online Poker is over, and while we are in the Dark Ages right now, we are not necessarily heading for a Rennaisance.
On a completely unrelated note, I am so fucking giddy to play some live poker tonight at the love child of the Wall Street Game and an Underground Club, which I guess I'll just have to refer to as the Underground WallStreet Game. After all, live poker is the poker I truly love. Online poker is just a convenient lay.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 3:47 PM,
8 Comments:
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At 4:30 PM,
Tom said...
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The golden age might be gone but there's still good money to be made, only you make it in a different way.
The way you make money now is by preying on these so-called low-limit and mid-limit "experts" by getting them to think they're making professional laydowns or soul reading calls.
It's little more work, but once you develop a system it's not too bad. -
At 5:04 PM,
Astin said...
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I had no problems with the update. Last hand button worked great, replay was fine, and the ability to choose which table and game you're replaying the hand from was a great addition.
Also, the software was faster on my laptop. I especially liked the sped-up dealing. 3 tables going, no problem.
As for taxing, I'm kind of hoping that in the legalization of online poker, the guv marks it as a game of skill, which might then turn the winnings into regular income instead of windfall taxes. This wouldn't affect me online, but might affect withholding taxes from any US winnings when I cross the border. -
At 5:08 PM,
jjok said...
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not having problems with the last hand feature. Had some PT and PAHUD issues. An update in PT's support forum resolved the PT issue. PAHUD should have an update soon too, if not already.
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At 5:44 PM,
Gnome said...
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The 2+2 Pokercast talked about some of these issues in an interview with PPA Executive Director Joe Pappas. He said the bottom line is that until we have regulation, all poker players are operating in an unstable market that may not be sustainable in the long term. With regulation, we can have some assurance that online poker will continue to exist in the United States, and we will be able to make safer withdrawals.
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At 6:06 PM,
dbcooper said...
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I personally dislike the online game. Boring, too much chance of collusion (anybody can do that with MSN, twitter you name it) and the live game is so much better. The only good thing about the online game is the money the poker sites throw at you if you win a big live tournament. As for legalization. If it happens the taxman will cometh and taketh. Thats a given. Will it be better??
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At 6:54 AM,
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At 11:18 AM,
Alceste said...
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The last hand bug was fixed with yesterday's update. There's something about the new software that makes the game feel a little off. It's not running as smoothly (on a fast machine), and everything seems out of sync. Not sure what it is though.
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At 1:30 PM,
genomeboy said...
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try to update your flash player.
I've read some comments on 2+2 suggesting that may be the culprit...
