Two small items today, one poker, the other not. First the poker:
I completely cashed out of Coal (i.e., Carbon) Poker this week. Don't know if I'll ever go back, either. As long time readers of this blog know, I've been very disappointed in how the company has treated its customers in recent months, first taking away rakeback, then stealing our VIP points. Add in the completely snarky tone of their emails to me explaining their thievery, and, well, I'm done. I've made a bunch of money from the site, but it's time to move on. So now I'm looking for an alternative...
... which brings me to Seals with Clubs, which is a poker site that operates completely on the electronic currency of bitcoin. Because this is not a traditional "real" currency, playing on this site is considered legal in the US (or so the armchair lawyers say). It's a small little site, with just a few hundred players, but the idea of bitcoin transactions intrigues me. Bad news (good news?) is that bitcoin exchange rates are currently soaring. The worrier in me thinks it's a bubble about to burst. Dunno. I may also try my hand on a more traditional site (probably Bovada) to get my poker fix...
Now the non-poker news: the film critic Roger Ebert died this week. May he rest in peace. I have been a fan/follower of his writings for nearly two decades, and the entertainment world lost a truly thoughtful, intelligent, wise man this week with his passing. I've always enjoyed his movie reviews, but his non-movie essays were oftentimes his best work. The man was truly prolific, turning out thousands of words, week-in/week-out, even through the bad cancer periods. Back in the late nineties, I sent Roger an innocuous email question about one of his reviews. He took the time to write back a lengthy response, and we ended up exchanging letters on that subject for quite a while, eventually tangenting off into a couple of other topics over the course of a few years. I remember disagreeing with him in the end on the main topic we discussed, but his responses to me were logical, reasoned, and they made me think... Hey, I'm a relative nobody in this world, so I couldn't help but be impressed that this extremely busy man that I respected took the time to correspond with the likes of me. Rest in peace, Roger. I already miss you and your weekly words.
All-in for now...
-Bug
"I completely cashed out of Coal"
ReplyDeleteI remember the Poker Grump saying in a post that Ultimate Bet was corrupt (before they died) and I left a comment that I thought they were ALL corrupt. After that, we saw what I said was true with Full Tilt and others. So far, Poker Stars is the only one that has proved me wrong.
Bottom line, until they are legal and regulated, they can do anything they want, and probably will.
I couldn't agree more, Memphis. When you prohibit something (e.g., alcohol in the 20's) all you do is create a bunch of shady illegal entities to fill the void left by the legitimate suppliers. No regulation, so they can "do anything they want, and probably will."
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