Well, thanks to my friend Chris “Pokerfox” Wallace, I’m back to playing online poker. Right now, playing for pitifully small stakes, but that’s okay. Poker has been the best thing I’ve found to keep my fore-brain occupied while my hind-brain writes books for me. The site is FeltStars, and they do, indeed, accept US players. If you do sign up, use bonus code FOX150 for a nice bonus and rakeback.
See you at the tables.
I’ll have to check it out. I’m trying in vain to max out my pokerstars account. Those 4 handed 200k are vicious, guys will push any weak Ax and it’s hard to get a read.
My game is good though, I’m getting better.
Good to hear, but I’m not surprised.
Thank you for posting the link. It is so very hard to find a reliable site that accepts US players these days. Now if I could just find a good one for blackjack…
Shouldn’t you be saving your money for medical costs ?
UnclePolly:
1. The medical issue will be made or broken by whether I manage to get insurance; the paltry amounts for which I play poker can made no difference.
2. Poker is a source of income, not an expense.
Any other questions?
Yes, I have a question. “Are you winning?” As long as you don’t answer with the line, “I’m about even, maybe a bit up,” you should be fine. :) I believe I’m quoting Dragon, but I don’t have it on hand to check. Anyway, gambling is not a problem in itself, gambling badly is. Based on how you portray it as a honed science in the Vlad Novels, I highly doubt you are prone to gambling badly.
I’m playing low stakes “sit and go” tournaments, and at this moment, I’m up 3.7 buy-ins, which, oddly enough, does qualify as “about even, maybe a bit up.” :-) But you’re quoting Dragon correctly.
If you play poker right, you aren’t gambling; your opponents are.
I’m awed by the number of people in these threads who seem to think that “saving for medical expenses” is something that’s actually possible for the vast majority of Americans in 2012.
Anyway, Steve, here’s to enjoyable gin and tonics and no bad beats.
Dennis: They tend to be people in rather privileged positions economically.
*clink*
Although the games that Vlad plays with his enemies when trying to defeat them might sometimes be called ‘bluffing games,’ I don’t think he has actually sat down and played poker since the low-stakes sherba (SP?) he played when he thought Loiosh’s egg became cracked. That was long ago in the series. Will it play a motif role in Hawk or another upcoming book the way cooking did in… uh, the Valabar book? Honestly I learned a lot about the art of cooking there, and also eating, and it would be interesting to similarly view poker.
This coming from a person who shies away from even the smell of spicy food and who can’t help but grin widely when they see and ace, I’m wondering out of a hope to experience vicariously that which I otherwise cannot.
Edit: I looked it up because I could not in good conscience leave my post so ambiguous, but the ‘Valabar Book’ is in fact Dzur.
So far, it doesn’t look like there will be any Shereba to speak of in Hawk.
Oh, Ethan, you’re back. Hello, Ethan. Good-bye, Ethan.
Question about Feltstars, though I’ll probably do my own research to make sure:
Do you happen to know what the legal ramifications are for them accepting U.S. players?
For instance, I know that other sites, regardless of whether they are located within the U.S. or somewhere overseas, are not taking U.S. players because of how monetary transactions are executed.
I’ve been looking for a place to play, so if it turns out to be legal, then I will indeed be joining this site!!
Good Skill at the tables!! (Good luck is for gamblers)
It’s legal for them to have US players. Current US law forbids certain sites, not poker in general.