Power to the People

The time has come for me to give away the last free item, the PokerStars Power Charger. And while many people's lack of reading comprehension has been a touch cumbersome during this promo, it has taught me one thing: a lot of people want this. So many people have expressed interest, in fact, that it's making me a bit hesitant to part with it. But the fact remains I don't have most of the things it charges, and more importantly, it can act as one last hurrah to get people involved in the fight.

I will be giving away the charger this weekend. If this was an official deal I'd name a time and we'd have a drawing on air and there'd hopefully be attractive girls and a big, large tumbler. Maybe I could get Bob Barker to come out of retirement to announce the thing. But it's not official, so I'll just call it some time this weekend. If you'd like the charger, all you have to do is complete the steps, shoot me an email or post in the comments that you've done them, and I'll pick someone randomly when all's said and done. If you can promise me that you've convinced multiple people to complete the steps as well, well, I'll give you two entries to win. If you lie to me though, I'll find out. Or I won't, but I won't like it. So just don't lie.

Here's the charger:

And all its accoutrements:

I'll announce the lucky winner when I decide I'm ready to announce the lucky winner, and shipping will be $8. 

To everyone who has joined the PPA and sent out multiple letters, told their friends, family, and anyone who will listen to get behind this, I applaud and thank you. There is power in numbers, and while I don't know what will happen in the future, it's comforting to know that there are a ton of others who care so much to not know together.

I won't be giving away any more items this week, but I will still be updating this blog regularly with poker stories, ways to get involved, letters, petitions, boycotts, sit ins and more. And if all you care about is mostly free stuff, I'm certain I will have more of that in the future too. 

What They Don't Know & Today's Free Items

As most everyone knows by now, online poker has been declared illegal in the state of Washington, a ruling upheld recently by the State Supreme Court. The people who hold sway over this matter have spouted multiple statements showing not just their complete disregard for the intricacies of the game--If poker is deemed a game of chance, what kind of game is horse racing? Still legal in the state, by the way--but a complete lack of understanding of how this will affect the economy as a whole.

The state of Washington does not receive any tax money from online poker. But it certainly makes money from tribal casinos. And I understand the state wants to make money. I get that. The only problem is, a large number of poker players won't move their business from the virtual felt to the actual one. They'll move their business out of town altogether. And with it, so will go their income tax, property tax, sales tax, cigarette tax, carbonated beverage tax, plastic bag tax, The North Face tax and whatever other kind of tax we pay. Not just tax money, but so too all of the other important economy-growing money we decide to spend, much of which is independent of poker. Much of which is simply dependent on living. Whether we live in Seattle or Stockholm, poker players will spend money on the staples we determine necessary for everyday life. We will still buy milk, gas, clothing, and shelter. Now, we'll just do it someplace else.

I used to go to Muckleshoot and Tulalip Casinos every now and again. Not once did I go as a substitute for online poker. I went for fun. These places are far from the heart of the city, offer a meager selection of games, and as is the case with live poker, allow play at only one table at a time. Ours is a generation of more AND better, we can't be held back by such unnecessary physical restraints as chips, dealers, and chairs. We have to go, go, go. And we won't be doing that at a tribal casino. We'll be doing that in another state that will have us. There are 49 different ones to choose from.

On to today's items. Due to massive underestimation of shipping prices I've had to eat a few bucks, and raise them. Again, all sizes M:

Upper left: extra large backpack with both straps and wheels. Due to extreme weight, email me and we'll work out a shipping price. 

Upper right: duffel: $12 shipping

Lower left: APPT button down: $8 shipping

Lower middle: Polo shirt: $8 shipping

Hats: $5 shipping

Steps to grab the gear can be found a couple posts below. Enjoy!

Californication & Today's Free Items

It's been over a week now since I've played online poker. It's not fun.

I could play on FTP and the Cereus network, but I rarely play those sites, and losing so much volume on Stars makes playing there a bit fruitless and not the best use of my time, which I'm currently using to find a new residence where I can legally play poker. Plus, I'm not a big fan of breaking the law. Some people are. I'm not.

In the meantime, I'm deciding on my next location. And it looks like San Francisco, CA. Which is kind of a shame, because generally when you move somewhere with a much higher cost of living, your income increase is at least somewhat parallel. Doesn't really work that way when you're self employed. Such is life. 

More than that though, there are logistical issues to think about, such as the state of online poker in CA. Which brings me to my next point. Everyone please sign the open letter to Commerce Casino. This one takes even less time than the others, just drop in your name, city and state and press a button, voila. 

You can read more about the issue within the link and on 2+2, but essentially, one of the largest, most well known casinos in the world has put their own corporate interests ahead of the interests of the customers it serves every day. It's imperative that all poker players band together to support the industry, whether they live in WA, CA, or elsewhere. Prevention is better than cure. Apparently that's a quote from Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch Renaissance humanist, among other titles, from the 15th and 16th centuries. But really, it's just common sense.

In other news, here are today's free items (Details in my blog post I'm Feeling Generous):

Upper left: Long sleeve, button down shirt, sized M (15 1/2)

Upper right: Laptop bag

Again, all clothes sized M. The hats and shirts will be $3 for shipping, $5 for the headphones and $7 for the bag. Enjoy!

Opulence, I has it & Today's Free Items

I spent the summer the same way as a lot of you, in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. It was my first time living out there for a duration, and if there's one thing you really can't avoid in Vegas, it's gambling. 

Not gambling, gambling, I'm a poker player, not a fool. But smart, fun gambling. And if the house isn't taking a cut, I'm in. Which leads us to this story.

Around 1am one night, five friends and I headed over to the Rio to register for the next days $1000 event, stopping to eat at TGIF's along the way. We ordered a bunch of food and drinks, and the total bill came out to about $150. But as I'm sure many of you know, you don't exactly split things evenly when you eat, or pay for anything for that matter, in Vegas. Credit cards were quickly tabled, and Credit Card Roulette commenced. 

*For anyone not aware, CCR works as follows. Everybody orders, and when the bill comes, the cards are piled into a stack. One by one, the cards are drawn in a random order until one remains. That person loses the game, and is stuck with the entire bill.

Being the responsible guy that I am, I had already eaten dinner and wasn't terribly hungry at the time, so I simply ordered two beers. Not wanting to risk getting stuck with the whole bill, I offered to withdraw from roulette, throw ten bucks at the loser and call it square. And that's what I planned on doing.

But I didn't have ten bucks. I had $100.

When our friend Cal lost the roulette, Galen came up with the brilliant plan to pull out ten playing cards, assign me one, shuffle them up and spread em out. If I picked the card assigned to me, I'd owe Cal $100, if not, I'd owe nothing. The expected value of the game was $-10, exactly what I had planned on paying, only it was a helluva lot more exciting, so when the opportunity came, I jump in it. (I'm not getting paid for the link, but c'mon, that commercial's pretty much the nuts.)

I was assigned the Ace of Spades, and the cards were shuffled and spread. I couldn't decide between the seventh and eighth card. I went back and forth in my mind: seven, eight, seven, eight… THREE! Why? Why three? Why would I choose three? I don't know, but I did. (Hint: Never, ever do that. Always go with your first instinct, in cards, on a test, anything. Read Blink… you're usually right.) 

I lost $100. I had ordered two Blue Moons, and they cost me $100. Oops.

The scene was pretty wild. Galen couldn't stop laughing, Cal was laughing, even I was laughing. Until Cal said to me: "Go again for $1000?" Hell yes, how could I not? What were the chances of drawing the same card twice in a row? Turns out they're 1-100, but that doesn't matter, we all know what happened next. The cards were hardly spread before I grabbed one and slammed it on the table.

The Ace of Spades.

Galen was uncontrollable, he couldn't stop laughing. He even decided it would be appropriate to dance around the table. Cal was laughing, everyone was laughing. Well, except me. I was stunned. I opened my wallet and tossed the ten $100s across the table. Guess I wouldn't be playing the $1k tomorrow after all.

Two Blue Moons, One thousand dollars. Yeah, that sounds about right.

On to today's items:

Read the post below for details if you haven't already. Please indicate your preferred item in the email. Shipping for the caps and shirts will be $3, the jacket will be $5, and the duffel will be $8. These prices are completely fabricated, but they sound about right. Enjoy.

I'm Feeling Generous

In terms of giving stuff away, PokerStars is awesome. Through just a handful of stops on the EPT, APPT, and WSOP I've received a lot of stuff. And when you're moving, stuff is the last thing you need. So I'm giving it away, for free!*. All of it!**. (If you're big or small, sorry, all clothes sized Medium. Don't worry, there are hats and bags and such.) All items are brand new, never been worn.

*Less shipping.

**Limit one item per person

I'll be giving a few items away each day. To get something, all you have to do is this:

• Check out my posts below.
• Join the Poker Player's Alliance (PPA)
• Send a letter to your lawmakers (It's already been written, just click send!)
• Spread the word: Twitter. Facebook. Petzume. 
• Promise to have at least one person you know do the same.

If you'd like, subscribe or follow me on Twitter. I'll be doing more promotions like this periodically, and that'll be the best way to find out about them. That'll also let you know when to check for the new items each day. Plus I'll be writing blog type pieces, which is always fun.

After that, click the "Email Me" icon on the right side of the blog and send me your shipping info. First come, first served. I'm doing all this on the honor system, but it really takes less than 60 seconds to make a difference. 

I ask that you send me a few bucks to cover shipping before I send anything out, either via PayPal (same as my email address) or as a transfer on PokerStars. My screen name is SingleFileD. Do this after I email you back and confirm your item. (I will list US shipping costs, if you are in another country I will ship for a higher fee.)

Lastly, once you receive the items, if anyone asks you about them or PokerStars, please direct them to this page, explain the cause and what they can do to help online poker. If you haven't noticed already, getting the word out is what I'm aiming for here.

Here's the loot:

And here's what were starting with today: Five lightweight, zip up jackets. Shipping for these will be $5. Please indicate in your email if you'd like 1-2-3-4-5 from top to bottom, left to right.

I'll update the post when everything's gone. If you miss out on these, check back in tomorrow for more items. Good luck everyone!

They're Trying to Smoke Me Out

It seems as though Bank of America is now having issues cashing some of my PokerStars checks. This comes just a few months after they stopped allowing eCheck transactions.

I think I know what's going on here, and it won't work.

The Apocalypse

It has finally happened. 

For five years now, playing poker in the state of Washington has been illegal. A class C felony, carrying with it a $10,000 fine and up to five years in prison. The same punishment handed out to a convicted child rapist. Or child seller, or buyer. Or lurer, like with candy. Basically anything bad having to do with children. Or animals. Or a whole host of other offenses. 

But a lot of things that we take for granted are illegal, and we do them anyway. It makes us feel alive. Or it's just normal. I'm pretty sure having fun on Sunday's in Ohio is illegal too. So for five years, nothing had been done about this. Nobody in the state had been convicted of any crime, and it didn't seem as if anyone ever would be. On September 23rd, however, the State's Supreme Court upheld the law and brought new light to the issue, and poker sites were forced to respond. 

PokerStars has since disallowed real money play on their site to all WA state residents. Full Tilt and the other sites may well be right behind them. And this has put me out of a job.

I often wonder what it would be like to be convicted of a crime I didn't commit, and know there was absolutely nothing I could do. Well, except scream. That's what every poker player in the state is going through at the moment. And whether they decide to move (most won't, or can't. Moving's difficult.) or not, the issue isn't solely about the residents of one state. It's about all poker players. All citizens. Washington may be just the beginning. 

State legislators need to know that going to the casino's, spending way too much money in rake, getting dealt 15 hands an hour playing only the limits they decide to spread, and single-tabling tournaments they decide to offer is not an acceptable substitution for playing online. What about people with busy schedules, or without cars, people that smell or don't like wearing clothes, that hate cigarette smoke and being surrounded by assholes, (I guess that part's the same as online, except with no way out) people that like money and want to make more of it, to put back into the economy and make things work? What about people that want the right to do whatever they want with their money, because they work hard to earn it, spend it, and pay taxes on it? Legislators need to know that we're people too.
Here's what can be done:

• Join the Poker Player's Alliance (PPA)

• Send a letter to your lawmakers (It's already been written, just click send!)

• Spread the word: Twitter. Facebook. Petzume. 

Tell your friends, family, co-workers, enemies, and pen pals. Lawmakers need to know that playing poker is not a crime, and it seems the only way for them to understand that is for the people that vote for them to tell them. These things only take a few seconds, but can really make a difference. This is just the beginning, but we won't go down without a fight... When was the last time you met a politician that didn't like to play cards?

Black Thursday

On September 30th, 2010, I was fired. No warning or notice. No built-up vacation time or severance package. Just a swift kick out the door to join the ranks of the desolate that surround me. It may not seem altogether newsworthy; people are fired all the time. But this case is a bit different. After all, it's hard to be fired when you never had a job to begin with. But that's exactly what happened to me.