[littlebu]

Sorry I missed this before Northeast Ohio? Where abouts? I'm in Euclid.

Originally Posted by Mr. Spiff

As funny as the post is...there is a fair bit of truth to it! Which is why I was laughing so hard. Seriously, thanks for the sentiment of sending me the $5. I'll sit tight and play with the funny money and let the dust settle with my wife.

Explanation: I'm in the middle of building a poker table, and I'm less than two weeks away from buying a new set of chips.

Of course, I thought about biting the bullet and making that deposit for online poker. But THAT would be the real gamble! D'oh!

Thanks again guys!

-Spiff

[Mr. Spiff]

Strongsville. We've been here 2 years now since coming up from Columbus.

[littlebu]

Not to far away. Maybe we'll see each other at a game.

Originally Posted by Mr. Spiff

Strongsville. We've been here 2 years now since coming up from Columbus.

[Mr. Spiff]

Nope, not too far at all. Speaking of local games, I found one just South of me in Brunswick...are there many around the Cleveland area? My poker has been limited to family and co-workers (and funny money FullTilt).

-Spiff

[WalkFar]

I haven't figured yet out how to get real money in my Full Tilt Poker account. Guess I have been lazy about it. A friend offered to transfer monay into my PokerStars account, but I need a Windows box to do PokerStars.

[littlebu]

I don't play a lot live because I have an odd work schedule. Here's a list of games in our area. If you sign up it will email you with reminders for each game that week. Calendar - The Cleveland Poker Meetup Group (Cleveland, OH) - Meetup.com

[Mr. Spiff]

Hey Littlebu, thanks for the link! I will definitely make an effort to try to get in on a couple of these.

-Spiff

[ipgyst]

The play-money regulars are the same people who go online and play Bejeweled and Slingo. They're just clicking buttons and having a good time for little expense. Nothing wrong with that, but you're not going to learn how to play poker against those people. Get a PSO free money from UB or AP. They both give you $100 free and you have 60 days to earn a certain number of "points". Just sign up and you'll figure out the points as you go along.

[ipgyst]

Originally Posted by Colquhoun

Technically, it has always been illegal for an individual in the US to gamble online.

Online gambling is a somewhat gray area of federal law. Sports betting is definitely a no-no, and if you host such a site in the USA, prepare to suffer (see Richard Lee). If you use such a site that is USA based, you may suffer, but I doubt it.

Poker and casino games aren't specifically mentioned and nobody has ever been convicted for playing them. I don't think anybody has had the moxie to host such a site in the USA yet. There are a couple of states that made it a felony to play online poker, but you would have to be the world's biggest donk to get convicted, as in "Here law officer, this is my IP address, and these are all the dates I played online poker, and you have my permission to check with my ISP to corroborate my story and prosecute me." Short of that, nobody is getting convicted for playing online anything.

What most politicians really want you to think is that online gambling/poker is 100% illegal and you shouldn't do it. Bill Frist molests collies. At least not until they and their constituents (land-based USA casino conglomerates) can arrange it so they control it completely and get their "fair share".

I tell ya, I wish North Dakota would have had more stones a couple years ago - they had a bill (which failed) that would have legalized and regulated online poker in their state and set up a state-run banking institution that would have processed all the funds. If that had passed, that would have been something... Since the Constitution doesn't mention specifically "online poker", it would be easy to argue that is a power that resides with the states, and all the threats and posturing by the feds fighting against it would have been useless.

[hachkc]

Actually, online gambling is illegal in Washington state and I believe has a different status in some other states. It does vary by state so you need to check your local laws. I believe several sites won't allow players to sign up if they are based in WA.