The Death of The Magic Roll

It's about time that I weigh in on the death of online poker. To me it has been quite ill for a while, and this was just a matter of time. Since the UIGEA of 2006, I could see this one coming, and pretty much had quit online poker as a result. Sure I played in a blogger thingy here and there, and recently have played a little Rush poker at FullTilt, but my heart was never really into it since the UIGEA. I have had my hands full running a Daily Fantasy Sports start-up which has sucked up much of my free time for poker, but to me I always had played poker to make money, and things just got too tough for many reasons. I feel really bad for all of my friends in the online poker industry, who are going to be hit hard by this. The whole thing is just stupid. Even though poker can be played live in nearly every state for money, and can be played online for money in nearly every country, the United States choose to enact a stupid law that did not even address the actual legality online poker. As a result, they have effectively banned what still could be a perfectly legal activity, by making payment processing illegal. Our rights are simply being taken away one at a time, by a government who wants to control us and the economy in every way. Republicans and Democrats are both to blame here.

So, how am I effected if I don't really play much anymore? Well it looks like it will be the end of the magic roll for me. My magic roll was created with my initial $100 deposit at Poker Stars back in the Neteller days. I used solid bankroll management, and solid play at the lower levels to build up from there, and have never had to make another deposit. The funding issue was never really an issue for me, as I could generate funds at whatever site I still had money. I have played for years on that roll, while pulling out 10s of thousands in cashouts. It payed for my entry to a $1500 WSOP event back in the day. It provided the roll that I used to sportsbook bonus whore prior to the UIGEA. Post UIGEA with no Neteller, and no easy way to move funds around, I was stuck with funded accounts at PokerStars, FullTilt, and Bodog. My two favorite online poker sites, and a so/so sportsbook was good enough for me. Now, with the shut down of FullTilt, and PokerStars, those accounts will be closed, and I will be forced to cash out. That puts my the last of my magic roll at Bodog where I have just a few hundred left. I could cash that out as well, but why not let it ride a bit at that point, and see if the roll still has some magic. I have actually used bodog for sportsbetting much more than FT or PS for poker over the last few years. They even have online poker still me thinks. I am running a MAC at home, so I need to see if Bodog has a MAC client, but I also have windows on my MAC. I could see my self playing poker there again as an FU to the government for now.