Fuckkkkkkkkkkkkk

Just one week ago I was in ST Louis with Bigbluffzinc. We both did very well down there. He got 1st and 3rd in two tournaments for a combined 45k, and I got 8th in a tournament for 4k, and did very well in cash games and ran very good in blackjack and roulette(lol). I left the trip profiting close to 15k (before expenses) and I was very eager to start grinding online again.

My plane landed Tuesday night in Pittsburgh and for the next couple of days I grinded a lot of hours. Friday morning I woke up around 5 AM, showered and ate breakfast, and for the next 6-7 hours I grinded online again. I wrapped up my session and left the house to run some errands. I grocery shopped, had some bills to pay, and I was on my way to the mall to splurge on myself since I did well in St Louis and then got a text from a poker buddy of mine saying "Dude, we are so fucked".

The text came from Mr.Paintball, who is a business partner of mine for staking. In my head I was thinking we got rolled for a lot of money, or maybe we had like 10 horses needing reloads or something. I called him up and he informs me the FBI made a move on the big online poker sites, and that online poker was getting shut down. I really had no idea what to think or say, but thought splurging on myself at the mall was probably a bad idea and proceeded to drive home to figure out what the fuck was happening.

I get home and sign on pokerstars, the same pokerstars I was playing on just 2-3 hours earlier, and I got the message that I am unable to play real money games, cash out money, or transfer money due to my government. I was shocked with the reality that was setting in, and to be honest it hasn't completely hit me yet that I have no job.

As most people know, Pokerstars, FTP, and UB were charged with bank fraud and money laundering, as well as other things but those are the major charges. The FBI seized domain names, bank accounts, processors, a bunch of shit. I have spent the past couple of days grinding live cash, and every minute I have been home I have been doing as much research on this as I can, here are my thoughts on the situation.

First off, this is a shitty shitty situation for all of us poker players living in the USA, especially those of us who stake people. A lot of us keep our money online opposed to bank accounts because we feel our money is 2000x safer online then in a bank account. Between my own funds and what my shares are worth in the staking project I have, I am out more money than just about all of my friends make in a year, some two years.

These online poker sites are facing serious serious charges, and people who think funds will be unfrozen shortly, or are safe period, are delusional. Your funds can no longer get to you the way they have been doing it. In order to get our funds poker needs to be regulated and stars and tilt need to allowed to get a license. If they dont get a license I have 0 idea what happens from there. I am not sure if the government will seize any USA players funds, and if so I dont know if they will give that money to the people or just keep it. I also don't know if they aren't able to seize funds that these sites will pay the players as they will no longer have a market here, and it makes no sense to pay people who will no longer have business with you.

What pisses me off is that it is very clear Stars and Tilt, especially Tilt, have known this was coming for some time. Think about everything Tilt has done lately. Rush poker, Multi entry tournaments, Double gaurnteed week + FTOPS happening way more often. Not too mention a app for rush poker so you can play on your phone. Obviously one can say thats just good business, but its also the best way to get as much rake possible before the storm hits. Stars is no saint either, Changing VPP programs to make SNE way more appealing. I know more grinders that were attempting SNE this year than ever before, and it wasn't even close. Not too mention making more tournaments + upping GTDS. Of course this can also be just good business, but I am not buying into the coincidence, many credible people have said these two sites have been stashing money away for quite some time now in case something like this happened, they knew it was coming.

Most people don't understand how serious this is. People need to understand we will not be able to play poker for at least a year. These cases need to happen, regulation needs passed, and then how to regulate it, who gets the licenses, making the software for the sites, etc, needs to happen. We are looking at a best case scenario of early 2012, and as far as a worse case scenario goes, it could literally take 5+ years.

So yea, now what? I am a 24 year old unemployed bum. I don't know when my job will be back. Many people are saying to play on bodog, merge, and cake. My instincts tell me no, and that when USA is done with the big boys, the smaller sites are next on the list. These sites are just trying to make as much money as they can before they are shut out too. People already have cashout problems with those sites, shits just gunna get rockier and I wouldn't recommend anybody playing on those sites.

Continuing to play on stars or tilt is still possible, but every option to do so is 150% illegal. I know ways to do it, and there are quite a few ways to do it, but the risks that come with doing so are very high. Do i really want to risk jail time, embarrassing my family, etc, just so I can make money for a year or so?

Going back to school and getting a part time job isn't really a option for me, I don't want that lifestyle and know that lifestyle doesn't make you money.

So yeah, no fucking idea what I am going to do right now, I have a few options and worse comes to worse I will get a job, but hopefully it doesn't come to that. I have enough cash to give live grinding a shot I suppose, but I know how hard of a grind that can be. I should have everything figured out in about 2 weeks hopefully.

GL to you if your in the same boat as I am, it fucking sucks.