AGITA 10/2/2006-These are times that try our Souls

--There must be some kind of way out of here, said the Joker to the thief. There's too much Confusion. I can't get no relief--
**Bob Dylan - All Along the Watchtower**


I went to bed last night after reading Miami Don's blog. He made a statement about his blog being dead and on-line poker dead. At first I thought he was being a little cynical till I woke up this AM and turned on Squawk Box and saw that overseas gaming shares had crashed faster then JDS Uniphase and other tech stocks back in 2000. I fired up the computer and went first to Poker Analysis where I saw that Pacific and Party were going to stop taking bets from US customers. I have no money on Party currently and only a few bucks on Pacific so that didn't really effect me. When Pokerstars got mentioned I almost felt like calling in sick to work.

Im a very upbeat person, an eternal optimist. One might say PollyAnna-ish. You wont see me down very long. After an 8 year long relationship/engagement ended in 1999 I simply stated.. "If after 8 years you don't know if you want to get married, Then I'm not the girl for you." To me Change=Opportunity. The Chinese say Crisis=Opportunity. 70 million poker playing Americans, myself included are now faced with the stomach upset of the millennium or as we Italian Americans say AGITA. When faced with a crisis sometimes it is better to sit on our hands and do nothing. There are too many Chicken Little's running around right now. Before anyone does anything really stupid take a deep breath and educate yourself on the issue.

For me where this is a will there is away. I am a risk-taker, not risk adverse but a risk taker at heart. To me playing poker is no different then the stock market. It's a Random walk not on Wall Street but on the felt. I've been thinking about ways outside this potential banking issue. I refuse to see it as a poker issue. Montreal is a quick three hour ride up the Northway. Carol, is in Toronto, she trusted me with some of her Vegas bankroll which she sent to me player to player on stars and which I withdrew for her to avoid the exchange difference between US and Canadian dollars that Neteller was going to hit her with. I carried it to Vegas on my person and delivered the money to her and that trust goes two ways. We discussed it last night. It would be very easy for me to set up an account in Canada and use it to fund my Neteller account if needed. Short of the money I withdrew for Vegas this year I still have all my bankroll either in Neteller or on various Poker Rooms. And of course there is always off-shore banking readily available in the Cayman Islands and a host of other Caribbean nations.

Ive always been a champion of the underdog and an advocate for issues I feel strongly about. I was one of those tree-hugging hippie chicks that protested the sale of Coors Beer on the University of Colorado Campus because of Coors membership in the John Birch Society. I flipped off and mooned, Jed Smock the religious zealot who would come to Campus in $600 suits with the chick whose soul he supposedly saved (Cindy) and was probably banging. He'd make statements like fraternity boys are homosexuals and sorority girls are a bunch of whores ( I was a Greek). I'd do a couple of bong hits, grab a few beers and go with some friends to listen at the CU fountain to his nonsensical drivel.

Apathy wants to sink in right now because I am disgusted with the lawmakers. Apathy is so un IG-like. My mom would call be sassy. But I'm feeling world weary, Im getting tired of fighting the good fight. Maybe because I will be 46 in about 11 days Im getting more cynical. I've been a registered voter since I was 18. I have voted in every presidential election since I have been able to vote. The Reagan years are largely a blur because I was following the Dead around in my free time living happy joyous and free. I was happy to live in a fog during those years. I've been a believer in the two-party system and I supported my parties candidate with money last year. Financially, it was the first time I was able to do so.

I can live with my job being Bangelored. I'd make a great Starbucks barista. But to attach a ban to online gaming to a Port Security measure is underhanded and in my opinion unconstitutional. Its an infringement on my right to earn a living and spend my money the way I want to. I've lost faith in the American Way and my party.

George Pataki my Governor who I did not vote for voted to free Sportingbet PLC chairman Peter Dicks. Thank you George. Gaming is alive and well in New York State. The Saratoga Racino in my county is the biggest draw in the Capital District. Its undergoing a mega million expansion. Hopefully at some point in my lifetime table games will get added to the site. Congressman Sweeney isn't getting my vote because I checked out his voting record and he voted for the ban on internet gambling.

Unless your a monk or nun sitting in solitude in isolation somewhere, you've all probably done something that is breaking the law. Maybe even been arrested a time or two. I see this situation as no different. I imagine when most of us take the time to thoroughly digest this we will still be playing online poker.

Sure its fine for Foley to try to bugger little boys and Frist to kill cats (think I should get PETA on his arse) but its not okay for us to play the great american pastime?? I dont think so.

Im a Rebel with a Cause!!


I am asking all visitors to my blog to sign the following petition


http://www.petitiononline.com/LOGNOW/

To my fellow poker players I ask you to check out your Congressmans and Senators Voting Records and vote accordingly this November.. Its time to:

ROCK THE VOTE PEOPLE!!

Now back to Full Tilt to grind out a bonus.

From PokerNews:

News Flash
One Thing To Note About The New Law!
Every legal expert we have found that has analyzed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed last Friday by the US Congress has said one interesting thing about the new law. According to these legal experts, there is nothing in the law that says its illegal for the individual user to play online poker! The new law mostly deals with instruments of banking (debit and credit cards), and how money flows into gambling and poker sites. We will continue to monitor this situation.