Friday, December 16, 2005

Back in the Saddle

16 DEC 05

That was the longest I allow myself to be depressed – about 12 hours. I never want to do that again!!

In order to recover my normal jovial disposition, I played intensely with my kids and skipped online poker. Actually, skipping poker was easy. When I tried to rebuy, it said my card was denied. WTF? I know I have a big balance (I set up this account exclusively for online poker), and I keep rigorous records. I clicked on the website to check my balance, and it’s fat and happy. I tried again – DECLINED.

I called my bank. They said the problem was at Pokerstars. I called Pokerstars. They said it must be a problem with my personal information. Well, I haven’t changed the info at all since I opened the account, but sure, I’ll look again. Nope. No problem there. Then they said it must be coming from my bank.

Back on the phone to the bank. NOW they apologize. Sorry, they say, Mastercard (credit or debit) can no longer be used for online poker. You’ll have to find a different way to get them your money. Does anyone else know about this?

Anyway, all this meant more time with the kiddies. I love watching my youngest squeal when I yell, “Who needs a beating?” Then we chase each other through the house with the dog in tow. It’s a blast.

After bath time and bed time (can I have a 3rd drink of water, pleeeeese?), I decide to re-scrub my poker stats.

Since October:

Tournaments (both live and online): +$350
Live Ring Games: +$1100
Online (non-tournament): -$1000

The highlight: I’ve won (meaning walked away with more money than I started) in 18 of the last 20 ring games I’ve played.

The low point: Mega-tilting away $1000 in (basically) one session online.

It’s time to refocus on what I’m good at – live action and tourneys. If I ever get more money into Pokerstars, I’m skipping the ring games all together and concentrating on the SNGs (including the 180’s) and the satellites to the bigger games on the weekends. That’s how I ran up my balance last time.

Just thinking about it makes me smile.

3 comments:

Matt Silverthorn said...

Yeah, I had that problem when I first tried to make a deposit for online poker. I ended up going with Firepay online, since they have a flat transaction fee. Judging by the dollars you seem to play with, that's probably better than a percentage fee. The fee is $3.99

DrChako said...

I appreciate that. I'll check it out.

Unknown said...

Neteller only charges if you use the "insta" method of depositing. If you're willing to wait a few days it should be fee free.