How I Got Started in the Online Poker World

Although never a serious (or maybe good) online poker player, I first got involved in the world of online poker back in 2001. At the time it was just the infancy of the “poker boom” that later came in 2003 after Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP and remember tuning in nightly to watch my favorite poker players play for millions of dollars on shows like the World Series of Poker and The World Poker Tour. Some of my favorite players were Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and many others.

At the time there were only a handful of well known poker sites one which was Party Poker. I remember seeing a link at the bottom of their site that asked players if they wanted to earn money by referring friends and others to play on the site and in return they would generously pay you a fee or commission percentage. This was called affiliate marketing and in reality was also the boom for that industry. Over the next two or three years I developed quite a few sites that talked about poker news, bio’s of top players and the best signup bonuses at various online card rooms.

Then in 2004 a group of some of the top poker players in the world announced a new site called Full Tilt Poker. I remember getting the email that they had launched and immediately signed up as an affiliate. I believe I was the 37th or 38th affiliate ever at the site and over the next few years promoted Full Tilt on various sites I ran.

At the time I loved poker and actually still do in some ways. I loved writing about the latest poker news and telling others about recent tournaments and writing about the pros I loved to watch on TV.

Signs of Trouble

Somewhere around 2005/2006 I started getting worried about the industry. Fellow affiliates started talking about affiliate checks bouncing and trouble withdrawing funds from certain sites, but I always dealt with the big sites so never really had that problem up until the Neteller fiasco. With the passing of the 2006 UIGEA I decided the industry was too volatile and that it would be in my best interest to take what I’ve learned about web design, SEO and affiliate marketing and move into a more accepted and mainstream industry. From that point on I pretty much quit the industry and in the years since have seen many friends lose tons of money to sites that went bankrupt, moved out of the US entirely or simply couldn’t easily transfer funds back and forth from the US.

While I still love playing the game occasionally with friends or on trips back to Vegas, I always wondered how safe was our money online? How legal was it really? Although players and affiliates seem to fall within a gray area and weren’t being sought for prosecution.. I still never felt there was any way we could be sure players/affiliates money was safe, that the games were fair and legit (Absolute Poker cheating scandal) or that the government wouldn’t one day decide to take action. For me it was an extremely smart decision and allowed me to use my skills on more mainstream projects. In light of the action the US Dept of Justice has taken over the last 6 months, I’d say I made the right call and got up from a game that might have never been fair or legal for that matter.

Was Full Tilt Poker a Global Ponzi Scheme?

Earlier today U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in the Southern District of New York filed a motion Tuesday to amend an earlier civil complaint to allege that Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Lederer and two other directors for the website FullTiltPoker.com operated what the Justice Department says was a massive Ponzi scheme that allowed the company to pay out $444 million to themselves and other owners, which so far have included famous poker players Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Howard “Poker Professor” Lederer and Rafael Furst. No other players have so far been named, but the government said that, in total, the 23 owners of the site had taken out hundreds of millions of dollars in distributions over the years.

According to the complaint the government alleges Full Tilt executives misrepresented to the website’s players that the money the company was supposed to be holding in player accounts was safely held when it was actually being used for other purposes, including payments to owners.

“In reality, Full Tilt Poker did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all players, and in addition, the company used player funds to pay board members and other owners more than $440 million since April 2007,” the complaint read.

The prosecutor said that, as of March 31, Full Tilt Poker owed about $390 million to players around the world, including $150 million to U.S. players. But the company only had $60 million in bank accounts to pay them back.

Full Tilt paid more than $443 million in player funds to the board of directors and other owners, with $41 million going to Bitar, $42 million going to Lederer, and nearly $12 million going to another board member, Rafael Furst.

The company paid $25 million to Ferguson, and said that it owed him another $62 million, according to the prosecutor’s office, noting that much of the money was transferred to Swiss and overseas accounts.

“In order to maintain its false image of financial security, Full Tilt continued to credit player accounts without disclosing its inability to fund those credits,” the prosecutor said.”When players gambled with these phantom funds and lost to other players, a massive shortfall developed.”

The prosecutor said “this scheme continued even after the original complaint was filed and the criminal indictment unsealed in April.”

As time went on, the poker site had even less money to pay its customers. By June, Full Tilt owed $300 million to players around the world but only had $6 million to pay them, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“Full Tilt was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme,” said Bharara, in a press release. “Full Tilt insiders lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited with the company.”

Neither Lederer, Feguson or their attorneys have yet to make a public comment. Howard Lederer’s Twitter page also hasn’t been updated since April 12th, 2011 which was just 3 days before the original complaint was filed against Full Tilt and two other online poker rooms which now in the poker industry is known as Black Friday.

What About Phil Ivey?

Although the complaint states 23 members of the site that illegally received hundreds of millions in funds there’s no word of arguably poker’s greatest player, Phil Ivey.

In June, Phil Ivey who was Full Tilt’s most recognized star and 8 time WSOP Champ announced he would not be playing in the 2011 WSOP in response to players still being owed millions of dollars by Full Tilt and would also be filing a lawsuit for $150 Million on their behalf against Tiltware. The lawsuit was filed a few days after his announcement in Nevada.

“I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm,” Ivey, who has played online on Full Tilt and appeared in the company’s TV commercials, said in a statement posted on his website which was completely revamped a few months ago and has no affiliation or marketing for Full Tilt Poker.

“I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible,” he said.

Nobody knows for sure who was involved from the top down and who simply thought they were being handsomely paid by one of the largest online poker sites in the world to help promote the site, but over time we will find out. As more information is released we’ll be better able to tell if Ivey was also in on this and simply protecting himself by filing the suit and distancing himself from the site or legitimately was upset and embarrassed to be part of something which could lead to criminal prosecution and potentially decades in prison.

Update: Here’s an interview from today that PokerNews.com did with Tom “Durrrr” Dwan about what he knows in relation to the charges.

Closing Thoughts

To me the most troubling part was that Full Tilt was crediting US players with false money into their accounts and still allowing them to play full well knowing that they had been having problems with US player transactions for quite some time. How they thought this was a sound business decision is beyond me. Anyone with half a brain could have seen that would never work.

In the end if the allegations are true this has to be the perfect story for CNBC’s American Greed show. It still shocks me when I see stories like this. Why millionaire’s decide they’ll do anything to have more even if it’s at the expense of other people’s livelihoods and their image along with the fact they could spend the rest of their lives in prison is beyond my comprehension. Although Wall Street star Gordon Gecko one said that “Greed is good”… it’s not worth it when it destroys your values and other people’s lives.

Although I do think online poker should be legal in the US for adults, I also think it needs to be regulated by the government, taxed and made as safe as possible for players and affiliates alike. Hopefully the recent actions by the US Government don’t hinder that and instead put it on a fast track to safe online gambling.

What are your thoughts on todays complaint? Is the US doing the right thing? Are these players responsible for a $400 Million Ponzi scheme? How will it affect the poker industry? Let me know in the comments below.

Some of the quotes above were taken in part from CNNMoney’s report.

Like Chamillionaire I too grew up idolizing Michael Jordan. I literally watched almost every game he played in as I grew up in my high school years in Racine, WI which is about an hour north of Chicago so we got almost all of the games televised there. I lived and breathed basketball and Michael Jordan and even remember telling friends many times growing up that although I don’t have any interest in autographs from celebrities I did always say if I ever met Michael Jordan all I wanted to do was shake his hand. I even finally got to go to a Bulls game in Chicago back around 1992 or 1993 and man was it awesome.

Over the years since Mike retired I pretty much lost interest in the NBA. I still occasionally watch regular season games if Kobe or Lebron are playing and maybe some playoff games, but for the most part it just isn’t the same without Jordan. A lot of hype and scrutiny has been made out of Lebron’s decision to “take his talents” to South Beach and join Dwayne Wade, but I’ll admit it has gotten me a little more excited about the upcoming season and although a lot of people have compared Lebron to Michael on the court… I just don’t see it. Yet. Off the court… Lebron might want to think twice about following MJ’s lead.

I’ve never met Michael Jordan so can’t speak with certainty, but have heard from numerous people that have met him that he’s an asshole. Chamillionaire who’s also a celeb like Mike sure seems to agree. And you know what? That sucks to hear. I know people shouldn’t look up to athletes and celebs, but when we’re young we just do.

So what happened when Chamillionaire finally met his idol Michael Jordan? Apparently Chamillionaire was at a Reggie Bush event earlier and even bought some high priced Jordan jersey’s at auction so when he saw his childhood idol standing around with some fellow ex NBA players he decided to approach Mike and ask him for a picture with him. He said he thought Mike would probably say no, but never expected how Jordan allegedly reacted. According to Chamillionaire when asking Jordan for a picture MJ replied with “Hell no I ain’t taken no pictures with no n****z.” Apparently he said it a few times and even when a couple other players told Mike to settle down and that this guy was a famous rapper he said he didn’t give a f**k who he was. Obviously Chamillionaire was shocked, but in his video mostly just seemed disappointed to find out his idol wasn’t nearly the same person he portrayed in public.

This seems to be the case all too often these days… especially with athletes. Michael Jordan’s wife filed and won one of the largest celebrity divorce settlements in history for around $150 million after finding out Michael was cheating on her for years. Also look at how two of my other favorite athletes of all time seemed to lead separate lives from their public image… Tiger Woods and Brett Favre. Tiger was portrayed as squeaky clean and on the surface lead a solid family life. Obviously we all know now his image couldn’t have been further from the real truth. I also met a assistant pro at the course Tiger practiced at in Las Vegas when he was being coached by Butch Harmon early in his career and the guy said Tiger was not only one of the cheapest guys he’s ever met, but a downright asshole. Now Favre apparently is caught up in his own scandal if it is found out to be true. I guess millions of dollars, a beautiful family and a smoking hot wife just isn’t enough for these guys.

There’s no question I still like watching these guys play ball in their respective sports and even still cheer for them during competition, but when I am lucky enough to have kids… you can bet your ass they’ll know the difference between rooting for an athlete and looking up to people with integrity, values and a constant strive to become a better person. Hell I’m not perfect by any means and have made plenty of mistakes I wish I could go back and change in my life and work each day now to improve that, but there’s no excuse for swearing at a true fan and belittling another human being like that. I can understand not wanting to take pictures or sign autographs for every single person that comes up to you and privacy is important to everyone, but c’mon. Have some common human courtesy and politely decline. No need to be an asshole!

They always say you never want to actually meet your idol cause you’ll probably be disappointed. Well that’s definitely the case for Chamillionaire and now makes me think twice about really wanting to meet MJ. It’s also a nice lesson for Lebron going forward. Maybe Lebron’s dream as a kid to “be like Mike” is just meant for the basketball court and not life.

You can watch the full video of Chamillionaire talking about his encounter with Michael Jordan below.

Getting Pumped For The Minnesota Vikings Opener vs New Orleans Saints

I saw this video on YouTube titled ‘I Got A Feeling – Vikings Song’ last year just before the NFC Championship game vs the New Orleans Saints and with just about 10 days till the Vikings and Saints meet again to kick off the NFL season opener I thought I’d post it again as the video still rings true.

What do I expect from the Vikings this season?

I am a little worried about Favre’s health. Obviously he’s 41, a grandfather and not getting any younger. I do believe this is his last year no matter what happens (no seriously) so I do think he’ll give it everything he’s got this one last time.

His ankle also seems to be bothering him quite a bit although we know that’ll never keep him off the field. I mean hell… he hasn’t missed a start since 1992 which still just boggles my mind.

I’m not sure we can expect Favre to replicate what he did last year which statistically was the best of his storied career, but I do think we can expect about 30 TD’s and under 12 int’s which would still be a phenomenal year for any NFL QB. The main thing with Favre is protection from the offensive line. He obviously isn’t going to move around much outside of the pocket so mobility isn’t that much of a factor, but keeping him healthy is so the less hits the better. I’d also like to see the Vikings use TJacks a little more in certain situations on first or second down. He’s a great runner so that’ll keep the defenses scrambling to adjust which Favre can then take advantage of later in the game.

Our defense looks solid as usual. The Vikings are consistently one of the best run defenses in the league and we have a great group of linebackers. The only thing that worries me are the corners. That’s always been an issue for the Vikings and although Cedric Griffin and Antoine Winfield are solid corners they tend to give up the occasional big play. On the other hand I am pretty excited about the young rookie Chris Cook.

Overall the teams biggest concern right now is the health of Brett Favre and it’s injured receivers. The Vikings should have Sidney Rice back around week 6 or 7 and hopefully Percy Harvin and the doctors can finally figure something out for his migraines. The recent additions of Javon Walker and Greg Camarillo should be huge to fill the void left my Rice. They both had a good game against the Seahawks the other night and you could see right away how Favre went to Camarillo many times on 3rd downs. I could see him being used similar to how the Patriots use Wes Welker. I know this sounds a little crazy, but I still think Chris Carter could play. Now hear me out before you start laughing. I know he’s 45, but the guy stays in amazing shape and still runs a camp each summer where he works out with top NFL talent. I’m really just suggesting the Vikings use him in red zone situations and short yardage. I mean what does Chris Carter do? All he does is catch touch downs.

Predictions:

In the division I expect the NFC North to come down to the Packers and Vikings fighting it out with the Vikings winning the north at a record of 13-3 or 12-4 which would be right around their record from last year. The 3 or 4 games I think they have to be the most worried about are the games against New Orleans who I think they’ll meet again in the NFC Championship game, the Patriots game and both games against the Packers. The Packers games are always close and they of course have a solid team this year again. Some could argue the Cowboys game as well, but that game in played in Minneapolis at the Dome and honestly this preseason the Cowboys look in disarray.

Look for the Vikings to go 13-3, play in the NFC Championship again vs the Saints and maybe this time Brett will just fall down or at least not throw it across his body into double coverage. Out of the AFC I’ll take the Colts. Look for a Colts vs Vikings Super Bowl down in Dallas this year.

Here’s to hoping for another magical run. Whatever happens all I know is last year was by far the most fun I’ve ever had watching the Vikings and I’ve been a diehard fan since I could walk. I credit most of that to the play of Old Man Favre. Even as a Packer I still loved to watch him so hopefully the old man has one last season left in his tank. Go Vikes!

[Update] Oh and just a side note… This play (below) sums up how exciting every week was last year. I’ll always remember where I was that day right when that happened. I should have been jumping around hugging friends like every other Vikings fan. Instead I left the bar that day with 4 minutes left and had to catch the last couple minutes at home. What a waste of time that was! Lesson learned.

[2nd update] Well week 7 is over and we’re now 2-4 (bye week) so this prediction has definitely gone down the shitter. Here’s to going on a 10 game winning streak:)

Here’s video of my friend Stephen and I on our first skydiving adventure. We went to a place called Skydive Twin Cities which is actually located about 20 minutes into Wisconsin in Baldwin.

We had an incredible time. The staff was great! They were very professional, yet kept things loose and funny at the same time. I can’t wait to do it again. Only thing I didn’t like about it is the fact it was so cold. It’s was 51 at the ground and who knows how cold at 14,000 feet. Probably below zero.

I’m thinking Las Vegas for the next jump. Any suggestions on places to jump?

I ended up getting some great, up close pics of Tiger, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, John Daly and a few others. I can only imagine how big the crowds will be today – Sunday. I’m heading to 2nd round action Friday and plan to follow Phil in the morning and Tiger in the afternoon. Hopefully it’s not too hot.

Phil already has 7 WSOP bracelets with two coming this year in earlier events and with the main event title in sight could solidify himself as the games best overall player ever.

Mostly known for his high stakes online play at Full Tilt Poker and his ultra high stakes play in the “Big Game” at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Phil has made a name for himself as one of the most feared, but also most respected players in the game of poker.

Phil’s best finish in the main event came back in 2003 when he lost a heartbreaker of a hand to eventual winner Chris Moneymaker and finished 10th just one shy of the final table.

With only 9 players remaining Phil currently sits in 7th place in chips and although he’s somewhat shortstacked Phil’s aggressive style will definitely be out in force in November when ESPN airs coverage of the final table. Who knows what will happen at the final table, but one thing for sure is ESPN exec’s are probably jumping around the offices as they finally get who most consider the best player in the world at the final table of the biggest championship in poker.

Note: As of just minutes after the field fell to 9 final players, the term Phil Ivey had already become a trending topic on Twitter.

Congrats Phil!

Read more about Phil at his website PhilIvey.com or the Phil Ivey wikipedia page.

Vote! Then leave a text or video comment and let me know why!

Is what he does selfish since he has family and risks his life whenever he jumps and continues to push the envelope or is he an athlete and it’s just a dangerous sport like any other?

Watch this amazing sport in action and learn about Jeb’s new goal of skydiving with a wingsuit and landing without a parachute.

I imagine he’ll never get the funding for his Vegas stunt as the chances of him dying are well above 50%, but then again people love seeing stuff like this so who knows.

Here’s another clip I found of Jeb Corliss wingsuit flying on the NBC Today Show.

I have to admit that Tiger is definitely being conservative in his rehab. He even alluded to this when he mentioned other athletes like NFL players coming back form ACL reconstruction in as little as 4 months with the first one popping in mind being Rod Woodson the former cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He came back from ACL reconstruction in around 3 1/2 months which is extremely fast. I’ve actually torn both my ACL’s, had reconstruction done on them and it honestly took me about 9 months before I could play sports again and about 2 years before the knee really felt completely healed. Then again I had my surgeries about 15 years ago and obviously technology has changed a lot and rehab times have shortened due to less damage/stress being put on the knee during surgeries.

While I think Tiger is probably being conservative I actually think he’s been perfectly fine with taking time off from full-time golf. It sounds like it’s been giving him some time to focus on some business ventures, time to relax from traveling so much and also the ability to spend a good amount of quality time with his wife Elin and daughter Sam.

If I was a betting man (which I occasionally am) I would guess Tiger will miss defending the Buick Open at Torrey Pines where he last played a competitive round of golf when he won the US Open and will probably play once or twice in the 2 or 3 weeks leading right up to the Masters. My guess is he’ll hold out until March 26-29, 2009 for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It’s got Arnie, it’s close to his house in Florida and will allow him plenty of time to rehab and practice near his home right up until it’s time to get ready to head up to Georgia for The Masters in Augusta.

Here’s the video from ESPN.com of Tiger discussing these topics.

Although his story is amazing and I can’t help be astonished at the amazing things this guy has accomplished I can’t help but think he would have an unfair advantage over other runners.

The question really comes down to does the fact that he can’t pull a calf muscle or twist an ankle give him an unfair advantage over the other athletes. I think it does!

You also have to take into consideration that he may gain some sort of extra boost from the “blades”.

Again, his story is amazing and inspiring and I wish nothing but the best for him, but at the same time I just don’t think he should be able to compete in this years Olympics.

Here’s the story from ESPN. I’d love to hear your thoughts.