ePassporte goes the way of Neteller...

I received the following message from the folks at Walker Poker, which further confirms what has been reported elsewhere that ePassporte is bidding farewell to the U.S. market:

Walker Poker team would like to update you that due to the recent notification by Epassporte, players will not be able to deposit and withdraw via Epassporte until further notice.
Walker Poker team, as always, support ALL our players from around the world, and is working on providing the best methods for handling you money.
Walker Poker players can use all our other available processing methods, including Credit Cards and EwalletXpress, which support U.S. players as well.
Walker Poker team would like to recommend all our U.S players to open an account with EwalletXpress, which is very similar to Epassporte but much easier to fund and handle your money. In order to have an account with EwalletXpress, simply click here or visit http://www.ewalletxpress.com
Walker Poker team is giving all new EwalletXress users a special bonus of 10% instant on your deposit! Simply make a deposit and email us at cashier@walkerpoker.com and we will give you this amazing bonus within up to 24 hours!
As always, Walker Poker team is at your service 24/7 via our live support
See you at the tables!
Walker Poker Team

Hate to see it happen. I don't like the idea that businesses are being muscled out of the US market, which seems to me is what is happening here. No charges were brought against the company, just the threat of pricey legal wrangling is enough. Of course now we just all sit back and wait for the next funding method to appear. It's all sort of like watching a giant game of "Whack-A-Mole" being played out on a global scale... and unfortunately it's the tax payer's money that's being used to keep putting tokens into the slot for the government's next turn at bashing another payment processor in the head.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Night at the Eagles and more weekend

Last night was a fun night of merrymaking at the Eagles along with the Brothers. As usual the alcohol was flowing. The band JINX'D put on a great show. They really packed in the crowd and filled the dance floor. Great performance guys.

This morning Cole and I finally got around to watching WrestleMania 24. Yes, the boy is absolutely ate up with the WWE! He sat and played with his action figures in his new Steel Cage Ring. : ) I suppose there are worse things he could be doing. Now we're getting ready to head out the door and go to the mall to see Superhero Movie.

I wanted to mention that I did play in the PokerSpace Walker Poker freeroll today and donked off my early chip stack. Basically two hands did me in AKs, vs QQ. I just didn't hit. Then later AQos, and although the flop gave me straight and flush draws neither materialized. against my opponent who paired his Jack. Oh well, I knew I'd never be able to stay and finish it. My fascination with tournament play has begun to wither. Although they are fun from time to time.

Well the time is here... we gotta go.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Traffic to this site, via PokerSpace

"Interesting." Let me first say this is NOT a paid advertisement or endorsement. Just interesting and curious. A few of my friends and I have recently been making the rounds of a relatively new site http://www.pokerspace.com/. In addition to the obvious freerolls that they offer (so far on UltimateBet and Walker Poker) they also have some interesting promotions, forums, and a poker school. The school has interested me most. Although I read several books when I first got fired up about poker along with the rest of the world. I must admit that many of the concepts that I read about were perhaps a bit advanced for my skill level (nil) at the time. Now that I've been playing online, live, and hosting A LOT of home tournaments and ring games... well let's say I've improved over time. The PokerSpace site, while I was giving it a test run, actually recalled some concepts that I knew I'd read a few years back, and hadn't thought much about since. You know, you get that mentality that you've been there, done that mentality, and tend to dismiss knowledge/wisdom when it's staring you in the face. While reading through the lessons on the site and then taking the subsequent quizzes, I came across some things that I really didn't have as good a grasp as I might have thought. Of particular interest was the concept of calculation of outs and how they relate to pot odds. Sometimes the call is the right move despite how queasy it might make you in the depths of your gut. I was breezing through a number of the "Basic" quizzes when I ran into one and actually failed it! Yikes! And the added insult to injury, I couldn't just retake it on the spot. PokerSpace built in a 4-hour wait time. You click happy types need not apply! So, I kept studying and went back and even looked at quizzes that I passed, and looked to see where I wasn't scoring 100%'s. There have been some interesting revelations. I'm not as friggin' smart as I thought I was. Particularly humbling was the Sponsorship Test. It took me a few tries (and a number of 4 hour waits built in) to pass this sucker. AND when I did, there was still room for improvement. I did end up getting a sponsorship to Walker Poker, which I'm happy to report I've earned a few extra dollars and cents poking around the tables, in the shallow end of the buy-in pool! Grow the little bankroll right, and make something of it!

Okay I've given my background with the site now. Let me give some additional background. I Google'd PokerSpace and found the following synopsis of their site:


Pokerspace.com aims to become the largest online poker community for players across the world by providing a broad functional social networking platform dedicated exclusively to poker players. Pokerspace is well on its way to become the leader in online poker communities. Pokerspace is backed with exciting live marketing campaigns and a growing online presence. Pokerspace provides its members with a solid poker education system accompanied by a points system that will keep our online members active and playing consistent poker on our preferred brands. Pokerspace moved into BETA stage as planned on December 1st, 2007 and it has been attracting users at a increasingly fast pace. We expect to hit 100,000 users by the end of 2008 and this estimate is very moderate given the current rate of user acquisition.

I think the fledgling poker community is on to something and may make a run of it. I for one have enjoyed my time on their site.

Now back to what "really" started all this discussion and made me start the post with the word, "Interesting." I fired up Google Analytics this morning, as I commonly do, to see if anyone has even visited to the ole NDPT blog. Now, I'm no where near the top of the blogger world and don't expect to achieve that status, any time soon, or EVER for that matter, but I did see a slight spike over the last few days. So I decided to dig a little deeper and see why. The keywords that started driving "John Q. WebSurfer" my way were predominantly (at least recently) to do with PokerSpace.com! And what gave me a real chuckle is... I'm huge in Eastern Europe! Heck I got more visits from Poland than I did from Canada!?! And I don't even know if I can find "Latvia" on the map. Sorry! BUT whatever the reason, and however you got here, I'm glad that you stopped by. Hope you found something that caught your eye, and that at some point you return to see what "cheer_dad's" up to. But if not, I'll understand. It's like I've always said this blog's for me. It's good therapy. And honestly I enjoy doing it. If someone else finds a nugget or two of wisdom or a laugh from time to time, well that's okay by me too! Carry on, feel free to visit. Consider this to be the welcome mat.

In closing... I will say that I'm NOT going to post my answers out here to the http://www.pokerspace.com/ quizzes and tests. Face it people, I advocate reading and think we should each of us engage ourselves in the noble pursuit of learning. Well, it couldn't hurt anyway... If you do wander over there to check 'em out yourself, I'm part of the NDPT Crew (go figure) feel free to say hello. And no, I'm not looking for a referral credit.

"I'll see ya, when I see ya..."

Regards,

cheer_dad

The Yanok game recap, plus...

I wanted to at least get in a weekend post to sort of recap. It's not all that exciting but it's my life. Friday night Teresa and I had two options for poker, but we had earlier committed to the Yanok game which we always enjoy, so we had to pass on Shuman's. We got started around 7:30, playing short handed at two tables. I think we had 11 players total. I was at the 5 seater. Dismal cards...just horrid! I recognized a number of times that bluffs were flying, but more often than not I was looking down at hands that would be better played at the blackjack table. 7-4, 8-3, 9-2. Couple that with the fact that you're only sitting with 200 in chips from the get go. Blinds are 1/2, 2/4, 5/10, 10/20, 25/50, 50/100, yeah you see the exponentially expanding pokerverse. I realized by the time the second blind stage finally came around that we were playing fast, really fast and that waiting around wasn't going to work, so I began to take a few shots. Only once or twice did a stone cold bluff actually work for me though, and that only at the 5/10 level. Unfortunately for me every time I had the position on the table to bluff, I got called by my lovely wife!!! Every time and I do mean every time, she called or raised my ass. She told me later, that she wasn't getting a read, but just always had the goods to go along with my poor timing. I was sandwiched between JR to my right, Robert to my left, Chris S after Robert, and then Teresa. There were three people at the table who were actively playing position and catching some decent cards. Teresa I don't think played her position as well, but was cleaning up on some great cards. Although I did question her call with the J-8s, when I tried once again to steal the blinds. I busted out shortly after we went to one table. Opting to get involved in a hand when I had nothing but there were a lot of chips in a big pot that might have got me back on track if I could simply suck out. I wasn't going to make it through the blinds with the stack I had, so I think it was the move to make. In the end Teresa came up with the winning hand in that pot, with her pocket Jacks. She sent two of us to the rail on that hand. This gave her a sizable stack at this point. I went outside to grab some air and a beer, and shortly after they went on break. Teresa came out where I was just to chat. I offered her only ONE piece of advice. I told her that she needed to stop flat-calling. The stakes were high at this point, and she didn't need to be in there risking for no good reason. That was the only real flaw I'd seen in her game for the night. She was calling, when faced with a raise, when I clearly knew on a few occasions that she had monster cards. She needed to be reraising and eliminating others right then and there. I didn't know if she'd listen or not, but I hoped. I didn't find out til later that night. Nikki, JR, and I opted to leave right then and head up to the Eagles since Mirror Mirror was playing, and they always put on a great show! When Teresa got there she told me she came in 2nd, but had lost to Erik, when he called her all-in with A-Q, with his Q-J, but he nailed a straight on the river. No complaint or argument there. In with the best of it, but came up empty. Julie told me that she did tighten up after I left... and didn't do much calling. It was either fold or raise with her from then on. In Julie's words, "her ass was squeakin'!" Congratulations Erik on the win, but I'm much more proud of Big Red! : )

The "party" continued at the Eagles until the wee-hours. I say that cause I don't have a clue what time we left. I stopped drinkin' beer along the way, and re-waged my war on Jack Daniels. The fog of war quickly ensued. I enjoyed the band, good friends, and lots and lots of bared cleavage on the dance floor. Man, Mirror Mirror's got some groupies now. And I've said it before I'll say it again... YEY BOOBIES!!! : )

Saturday was a day of laundry and relaxation. We finally got to watch this weeks episode of LOST. I thought it was great, I like the whole time-line shift angle. Teresa wasn't so sure, at first, but I think she came around near the end of the episode. She's also convinced that Desmond looks much better with short hair. Yet another "man" for her to add to her collection of eye candy.

Not sure what's in store for today, but I'll meet it head on as usual, this has been a good week. I do think there's a Pokerspace.com freeroll today over at Walker Poker that I'll get in. $500 freeroll, with just over 200 players. We'll see. I did finally sign up at Walker, after passing the sponsorship quiz, although I only passed it at the $25 level, not the $50. This site has taught me one thing... I don't know as much about odds and percentages as I thought I did. There's always room to learn.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Almost done

It's nearing a close. The Leadership Potential Training Seminar is "nearly" over. Tomorrow we have a brief morning session, then our group project presentations, turn in our individual project plans for our organizations and additionally two personal improvement goals. Graduation presentations, and then nothing but a 4+ hour drive home and it's a wrap! Wahoo!

There are some new friends here that I will miss. And I actually hope that I've had an impact on others as well. Some folks that I've met, have had a positive impact on me, and one that I hope to continue to employ back home. Okay everyone just indulge me for a week or so, until I get it out of my system.

I'm a little tired this evening... but there's still the karaoke night to be contended with. Yeah, you heard right, karaoke! My classmates and I...are headed back down to Rumsey Tavern to make complete asses of ourselves, and probably drink just a few too many. Tomorrow could be a very long day indeed.

I did want to mention that I passed the PokerSpace.com IQ test for my sponsorship. However, it was only a $25 sponsorship for Walker Poker, since all I could score was a 70% on the test. Man I really do suck at this game. One of these days I'll figure it all out. Good luck to you all on the test in the future. I did have the sense to hang on to my answers if you're interested! : )

I'll see you all real soon. And in the words of Teddy KGB, "Alright Mr. Son-of-a-Bitch... let's play some cards!"

Regards,

cheer_dad