Online poker.
 

So like, it's not really a sport. It's not really a video game. So I wasn't gonna put this thread in Video Gaming or Media Centre... so I put it here.

While I was away from Gamingforce I was playing a lot of online poker. It's kinda became a second passion of mine. A lot of folks think of it as gambling, and for all intents and purposes it probably is, but I think I've become not too bad at it.

I was wondering how many other people here have played online poker on a poker site, and how many still play. I wanted to get a Gamingforce Poker Night going on Full Tilt Poker and wanted to see who might be interested.

I hear Skate got all wrapped up in that shit. He got pretty far with it too, from what I understand.

I don't think I'm confident enough at all to gamble money on the internet, though.

I suck at Texas Hold'em on 360, so I'm certainly not going to risk my actual money.

Also, aren't there laws against internet gambling in the States? Sure, the companies can be offshore, but I thought laws prevented using credit cards for those transactions.

Back before they passed all the laws on it, I had some buddies who gambled a lot online playing poker. They made out fairly well sometimes, but he was an addict, so it eventually got back to him. He WAS a good poker player, though.

I only know Texax Hold'em. Omaha and the 7 card variants I knew how to play but forgot.

I'd be up for some GFF poker. Sounds like a great idea, actually. I know I took GFF's money at the 2008 meet, so the competition can't be too terrifying.

From what I've been told as long as it's done right it's the sites who get in trouble, not the people gambling on them under those laws. A guy I was partnered with for a presentation last semester spent a lot of his time doing online poker, and he lost about $200 worth of his money/winnings at one point when a site was shut down for illegal practices.

nutty, people play like idiots when no money is involved. If you played for cash, you'd notice the game would change drastically. The 360 version is not poker the way it was meant to be played.

As far as laws go, it's kind of in the air. There are laws against financial institutions to fund it. For example, a bank can incur a fine for allowing me or someone else to place a deposit on a poker site. As far as anyone actually playing is concerned, no one knows because its never really been tested or prosecuted, nor with the masses of people playing online poker are any laws against actual players enforceable anyways. There is something called "The Wire Act" which basically says you cannot place a bet or wager over a phone line. It was enacted to prevent people from placing sports bets over the phone during the mafia hey-day. The law is somewhat hazy considering no one really uses phone lines for internet anymore, but it is the law that most politicians reference when they try to combat online poker.

There are lobby groups now though, namely the Poker Players Alliance, who are trying to legalize poker online and at a local home game level. Their actual spokesperson and Chairman right now is former NY Senator Alphonse D'Amato. Yes, I am a member. :P

If we got enough interest for a home game on Full Tilt, I might pony up some cash so there's something on the line for it. I have enough in my account to put up a smallish prize.

Stick to Full Tilt Poker or PokerStars. These are the largest and most trusted poker sites, and have nothing to gain by seeing you get screwed. They offer legitimate poker all around and are backed by huge names in the poker industry.

UltimateBet/Absolute Poker had a scandal recently where someone who was a "super user" could see someone's hole cards from their computer. However the website found out who it was, and it ended up being a former world poker champion. That person has since been virtually blackballed by the poker community. UltimateBet and Absolute Poker have since been working to renew their image, and paid a lot of money back to those players that got screwed out of their own accounts. Again, the sites have nothing to gain from players getting screwed, so they're trying to reach out to make reparations to the poker community for what happened to the players. They even gave me like $30 and I hadn't even played on the site in 2 years. :P

EDIT: Lemme explain "super user" status. It was something added to accounts by developers so that they could test the software and make sure it was running right. When final releases came about they didn't remove the super user status and it was exploited by someone who was able to get in contact with some of the developers. His name is Russ Hamilton, and if you want to see the 60 Minutes story on it, you can watch it here.

I'd be down for some GFF poker. My friends aren't around nearly enough to play so I don't get my fix as often as I'd like to. Count me in!

Just so you guys know, if we do play on Full Tilt, you need to sign up for an account there. You don't have to put any info in though unless you play for cash.

Aside from that though if you have Xbox Live, we can get a game going on there. Infact I'll probably have some drinks and get a game going tonight. My gamertag is Kincaid2461, so message him if you want in.

I'm a pretty frequent poker player especially since I moved up to Northern Alberta. The funny this is that I've never played online poker at all. I would love nothing more than to play a few online poker matches against some members of GFF just to see how I would stack up.

I'm far from being any good at it, but I think I can hold my own when it comes to a solid game. The only problem that exists supernova is that I probably won't be able to play online while I'm working up in Northern Alberta. The internet connection at the campsite is spotty at best. I really wouldn't want to lose my seat playing in the middle of the game when my internet connection goes out at camp and trust me it will go out from time to time.

Supernova, I would love to play a game with you guys, but I think it will only be a possibility during the time in which I'm back home, but if this thing takes off I wish you guys nothing but the best when it comes to a great game. Just make sure one of guys are brave enough to keep someone honest.

My son is so into playing poker online he has decided he wants to be a professional poker player (as he has done very well in this area). Granted, he has 6 years to finish in the AF first. :-)~ I've played on full tilt poker myself and wouldn't mind playing with GFF members.

Haha, julia, I woulda never thought.

Tell him that he'll need a bankroll of about 50k before considering seriously wanting to play professionally. I've also done very well for myself over the last few months, but to play professionally, whew that's risky.

EDIT: Kind of a brag, but this is my recent tournament profile. http://www.pocketfives.com/profiles/bdell24 I have concentrated most of my time towards cash games recently however.

Well, he has a long time to practice. Of course, he might not think the same 6 years from now. Nice profile, Nova, and good luck to you.