The Full Tilt Ponzi Scheme

I have been playing poker for a number of years - mostly for free and when I played for free I played like really money was riding on the line.  I always played on Full Tilt, but because they didn't accept credit card payments from US players, I never had money on the site. I just played with Play Money.  It wasn't until I learned of sending money via Western Union that I decided to put money on the account and play for some real chips - or so I thought.


Full Tilt always had the reputation of being the only legitimate poker sites around. (You can read the history of Full Tilt here: History of Full Tilt).

Before joining Full Tilt, I did extensive research and Full Tilt was always in the top 10, so I finally gave in and did my first Western Union transaction with them and boy was I excited. I played ring games at first, no limit. After losing, I decided to play limit games. Although a slow climb up, I was doing OK. My next move was to get involved in SNG (Sit n Go's) and from there get involved in real tournaments. Some that allowed you to advance to a bigger one or one that paid out to the top, let's say, 20 players out of, again let's say 500. I did good in both areas, so I figured my best bet is to play in SNG's or tournaments. The few months I played I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So much so, that I finally hit the live tables in Vegas and in a city near me. Which reminds, I need to get involved in their Sunday Tournaments.It had been knowledge among us poker players that there was a chance that we would end up in a Blackout, meaning all the poker sites (Full Tilt, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker) would be shut down.  The Blackout, from my knowledge was suppose to last only 15 months.  Knowing about the strong possible Blackout to take place I decided to play like nobody's business (basically get rid of my chips, because that's all it is now, chips) and of course I was winning.  Not big, but winning just the same.One day I tried to get on Full Tilt and was unable to do so.  I tried from a different computer and a different laptop.  I tried three times and even had a friend try and and finally she received the message that Full Tilt was currently down and explained why. I should add that before the Blackout started I tried to get my money off the account but the only way it would allow you to do that is to give them your bank account information. Well that wasn't about to happen. There was another way, but it was some long draw out thing, that by the time I received my money, I would have forgotten where it came from that's the reason I decided to play like there was no tomorrow - and guess what, there wasn't.


Several months had passed and a few times I have received emails from Full Tilt claiming they were working to get our money to us and for us to hang tight. A few months after that I received another email stating the same thing. I was going to write them after a couple of weeks asking for further information, but figured they would just refer me to their email, so I didn't bother. I thought I would wait it out.


Today I decided to look up the latest on Full Tilt and the payback of funds to its players and came cross this article talking about how Full Tilt was never a legitimate gambling site, but rather, a Ponzi Scheme: Online Poker Site Running Ponzi Scheme

From what I have red, Phil Ivey is now suing, or has sued the sponsors (Full Tilt) for $150 million (which he can share with the rest of us) and refuses to play in this year's WSOP (World Series of Poker). I am not sure what the outcome was of the suit or if he played. I basically stopped following anything poker related since the Blackout, which I shouldn't have done, but I'm slowly getting back into the game.


I don't think I will ever see my funds again, which I am fine with. But next time I lay some money down for chips, I will know my money is in on someone's cash drawer instead of in cyberspace and then the lining of someone's pocket.

The Snark Who Blogged Back - Blocking the Writer

As a writer, there's nothing worse than having writer's block, but perhaps having writer's block for a week or longer. I know there are writers that go months without being able to produce anything. I went through writer's block for about a week and I found myself thinking more about having writer's block than doing something about it. Basically, because I wanted the writer's block to just leave. I wanted it to disappear as soon as I plopped myself in front of a desktop or laptop, but it didn't. Instead, it really came on full force and basically laughed in my face because it thought it had me beat. And it did - for a bit. It wasn't until I started reading a post by a friend and fellow blogger. The contents of that particular post isn't important for this writing, but it should be read by many

The Snark Who Hunts Back - http://thesnarkwhohuntsback.wordpress.com/

Upon receiving a blog post of hers in my e-mail I began reading. I didn't read the entire post, but enough to realize why I was having major writer's block - because I'm not reading enough. You can't write unless you read. So, with that said, I say this. My blog friend wrote a great piece about that subject and I wanted to share it here for everyone.

http://thesnarkwhohuntsback.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/720/ - blog about writer's block and how to cure it.Actually, this post gave me a great idea. I think I am going to begin linking the posts that affect me and write why they affected me.

 Until then:Go read The Pretty Little Liars series

I'm Pretty Flawless Not To Mention...

Unbelievably Wicked.

Last month (August 2011) I began reading Pretty Little Liars written by Sara Shephard. I am not sure as to how I came about that book, rather the series, but I did and I am absolutely enjoying it. Pretty Little Liars (book 1) was one book I couldn't put down, next to Catcher In The Rye and The Help. I think I read that book in two weeks time. I am not saying that that book is a hard read. It's not by a long shot. But it is so well written that it transports the reader to the time and scene being written about.

Set in a rich area of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, it follows a group of girls that were best friends in seventh grade through high school at Rosewood Day (private school): Alison, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily. After a tragic accident and then the disappearance of Alison (during seventh grade year), things change drastically for the remaining three girls. But not only does tragedy and the disappearance of Alison change them, time changes them. High school becomes a different environment with new people entering their lives and old one leaving. As together as people seem on the outside, their world is anything but perfect.

I never attended a private school or lived in a ritzy area growing but I can still relate to the characters in the book because, as humans, we all go through some crazy stuff in our adolescent and young adult years. This is what I enjoy about reading young adult books. Unless you skipped adolescent and young adult, anyone can relate to these books.

I have begun reading Flawless and as with Pretty Little Liars I can't put it down (thought at times I have to). I read it on my breaks and lunches at work and its the last thing I read before shutting off the light for sleep time. Unlike Pretty, Flawless is becoming a slow read because I am also reading other books to help me with blogging better as well trying to attend to my blogs (either writer or modifying them).

I know ABC Family made a TV show of the books and on Twitter there were people watching the show and posting at the same time. I had to turn Twitter off because they were spoiling it for me.

I am not sure if I will watch the TV show because it might ruin it for me as in the people weren't cast correctly or things were changed from the book - as is done with all TV series and movies. But curiosity always gets the best of me and once I am finished with the series, I will look at the TV show and give my take, as any good blogger should do.

Until next time:

"Two can only keep a secret if one of them is dead." Alison from Pretty Little Liars

How To Make Millions of Dollars After a Prison

I read a blog today regarding Michael Vick signing a 100 million dollar contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and how people are outraged over this. Well they were outraged when he got out of the hoosegow and went right into playing football like nothing happened. But it seems people are more outraged by the amount of money he is getting right now. I am one of those people.Here is the link to the article: http://montyobv.blogspot.com/2011/09/suck-my-vick.html

I am not going to comment on the other people mentioned in the blog, just on my thoughts on Vick.

I was a Vick fan when he played for the Falcons. Not a huge fan, but a fan. Then the story broke about him being involved in dog fighting and in the brutal torture and murders of dogs that lost fights. He was given 18 months in the hoosegow. Yeah only 18 months. That's how much a animals life is worth. I am not saying that an animal's life is worth more than a human's but I feel the crime is the same whether it was done to a human or an animal. That's where my frustration comes in. But I digress.

After Vick's release he was given a job of quarterbacking for the Eagles. As a friend said it best:

There is really nothing anyone can say that can change my view of this convicted animal abuser. Yes he served his time...yes everyone deserves a second chance. But no one comes out of prison with the opportunity to make that amount of money. The NFL claims to be a business...then they should act like a business and do back ground checks before you hire..because in the real world making a decent living..convicted criminals struggle to get decent jobs because of bad choices they made. The NFL should be no different!

I remember watching a show in which this guy was released from prison and was trying to get a job and no one would hire him because he had a prison record. He couldn't even get a job as a dishwasher and his crime was nothing close to Vick's.

I do believe strongly in giving everyone a second chance, but paying someone millions of dollars is not a second chance, that's a reward. I feel that Vick should have never been allowed back into the NFL so quickly. I feel he should have worked his way up like all convicts have to do to.

I admit that this infuriates me because I am an animal lover and animals do depend on us and that wasn't more apparent to me than in 2009 when my cat Facers, was diagnosed with a kidney disease and she was subjected to daily IV's and constant monitoring. But more importantly, she needed someone to tell her everything was going to be OK and she was loved and such. And that person was me. I happened to not be working that year, so it worked out great that I could be there for her. As of today she is doing great and very healthy. So while I am nursing my cat back to health, Vick is killing his dogs because they lost a fight and didn't make money for him. It's all about the benjamins with that bozo.

I don't think he feels one ounce of remorse for what he has done and how can he when he is being told that hey, we know you are the scum of the earth, but we want to pay you millions of dollars anyways.

It seems the NFL welcomes criminals. So if you want to make millions of dollars, join the NFL, commit a crime and you too can make up 100 million dollars.

I might have done more ranting than making a point, but this is just something I had to get out of my chest. If you comment, please be gentle.

True Life: I Want To Be Straight

MTV has a show called True Life in which they follow teen/young adults around that are dealing with some type of issue as in being addicted to drugs, or being an outcast in their school, etc.. On one particular episode, they followed two people, a male and a female, both of whom lived a gay lifestyle but now they want to be straight. The female is doing it because of her mother. When her mother found out she was gay (her mother caught her with another woman) her mother stabbed her - literally. The male in the show is doing it for religious, as well as family reasons. I watched about 14 minutes of this show before turning it off. I still have it on my DVR but I am about to sock these two people because of what they are doing which is telling the world, the ignorant part of the world., that being gay is a choice, which it isn't. Oh and I better ad, that the guy in the show is even seeing a therapist to rid himself of his homosexuality. Yeah- that should be enough to piss anyone off.

My mother thinks being gay is a choice and it's not. Why would I, or anyone, make the choice to be gay and put ourselves at risk of the ignorant asses out there? We wouldn't. But we aren't going to conform to what others think we should be. My mother still hasn't accepted who I am and who I am with and that's fine with me. I talk to my mother every blue moon, but when she starts bringing up my sexuality and treats it like it's a choice I made and such, I have shut her down and be clear of her for a few years. But I'm digressing from the point of this blog.

There are people, like my mother, a lot of people, who feel that being gay (I decided to lump us all in one category) is a choice. There are choices we make because it is something we like. I choose chocolate ice cream over vanilla because I like it. I choose football over basketball because I like it. I choose blue over yellow because I like it. All these things make me feel good. Being gay is not a choice- it is what I am. I did not choose my brown eyes. I did not choose to be deaf in one ear. I did not choose to be dyslexic to a point (I transpose numbers but can remember numbers like nobody's business). I choose none of this. But I learned to live with it. But being gay is something I have learned to accept of myself (took a lot of years) and for these two people to try to change who they are for someone else, I don't care who it is, just disgust me. Yes, I may be writing out turn for I have not finished the show and for all I know, they may remain who they are. I will do follow up to this blog once I have finished the show.

Society today seems to be more accepting of homosexuality. They may not agree with it, but it seems they are a bit more supportive of us. I would do anything for my mother but conform to her view point of how things should be. I will not conform to any one's view point on how things should be. I do not flaunt my sexuality at all for it's how I choose to live my life. Pretty much anyone that myers to know know I am gay without me telling them. No I am not butch nor am manly I. Anyway. Some people have gaydar - I know I do. But anyways.

This has probably been a lot of rambling and somewhere in the middle of this rambling there is a point and the point will continue once I have finished the show with the end results of the two people.

Before CBS 5 I Was Star Struck. But Now...

Before I began working at CBS 5 in San Francisco between 2004 and 2005 I would get star struck easily. I didn't care who the person was, if I heard they were around I had to get a look and that would be it. No bragging, no nothing. Just had to see. But since working at CBS 5 and meeting a number of actors/actresses/musicians and such I am no longer star struck.

I met one who was the nicest person you'd ever want to meet and very down the earth and met another who had a very nasty personality without opening their mouth. I will not mention their names for I am not Perez Hilton. I want to make a name for myself while putting others down by name. But digress.

My view of people in the entertainment industry has changed quite a bit. I no longer like someone just because of what they do. I like them for who they are. My view changed because of my encounters. Not because of the bad one, but more so, because of the good ones. I have learned, and as cliche it may seem, we are all the same, just some of us are more known than others. I am still in the other category. I listen to stories about them from others or read articles about them (not in celebrity magazines) but in magazines about things they are interested in. I also do a lot of reading on IMDB via the trivia page and the message boards and try to learn something interesting about them that is not related to what they do. From all my readings I make up my own mind.

Twitter is a haven for celebrity followers. I was never one of them because I would have to like the person for who they are and not what they, as mentioned as before.

I also don't get excited about who is coming to town - unless it is Santa Clause coming to town and he better have my Mac Book Pro laptop with him or else.

But then there are people I like because of what they do and the list is long. What this means is that I would never want to meet them. The only person I like for what he does and who he is is Roger Waters and that is one person I would love to meet someday.

I have three or four people from the soap opera world I am following on Twitter and two have responded to me when I responded to their tweet. And my responses have nothing to do with their characters on the show or the entertainment world. I am sure that's the last thing they want to talk about.
 
I have learned that if you treat an actor/actress like everyone else and talk about things non-related to their job they are more responsive towards you for they feel you are there for them and not for what they do. In other, there's no ulterior motive.

The next time you are eager meet someone, don't approach them like a fan, although you may be the greatest fan, but approach them like they are one of us, which they are.

Always keep this quote in mind if your favorite person turns out to be a real a-hole:

"Whoever said fame makes you the person you are, must have had David Ruffin in mind"... From the movie The Temptations.

It's The Little Things

There are little things in life that we enjoy. Some enjoy the times with their kids. I don't have kids so you can count me out of the circle. People enjoy spending time with their significant others. I have one of those so I can be included in that circle. But the one thing I enjoy more is being at my favorite place with the one I love. And tonight that place is The Pyramid Brewery located in Berkeley, CA near Fourth Street.


Picture credit: http://www.pyramidbrew.com/alehouses/berkeley

Tonight (27 August 2011) I had the Brewery Burger, medium well with onion rings instead of fries with one of their house beers, the Hefeweizen. We asked to be seated near a TV so we could watch the Giants play the Astros, but we are also able to watch the football game (Niners vs. Houston). After finishing our burgers my partner had the Cherry Berry Cobbler with vanilla ice cream.Right now we are just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.My shorts description of Pyramid Brewery is it is warm and inviting.

What is your favorite place to go and why?