Govt rapes poker players – no lube.

Yes you DOJ, yes you.

So if you haven’t heard yet, or have been living under a rock, yesterday the Department of Justice shut down Poker Stars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker in one fell swoop.  It came unexpected like an atomic bomb over a community of poker players.  While I am highly upset (still) my heart goes out to those online poker professionals who rely on this as their livelihood…

The story: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2011/04/online-poker-big-three-indicted-10218.htm

I am not used to feeling this helpless about something I love so dearly, so I cannot even begin to articulate what I am feeling.  I know this sounds crazy to non-poker players, but just relate it to anything you feel very passionate about, being snatched away from you like you were such a criminal for doing it in the first place. You become disillusioned in your govt, your own country, supposedly “The Land of the Free”…right, yet the govt just came into my bedroom last night and took something away from me very dear.

Thanks DOJ! (Read: Fuck you DOJ)

Silver Star status wee!!!

Another milestone achieved 1in my poker career!

Dear shysti,

Congratulations! You have achieved SilverStar VIP status.

Your VIP level lasts for the rest of this month and all of next month.

This entitles you to the following rewards:

- 50% FPP Multiplier – you now earn 1.5 FPP credits instead of 1 FPP credit
- SilverStar VIP Store access – choose from new and exclusive merchandise in the SilverStar store
- USD 500 Daily VIP tourneys – 3 x a day – 10 FPP entry
- USD 30,000 Weekly VIP tourneys – Saturdays at 14:30 ET – 100 FPP buy-in
- USD 100,000 Monthly VIP tourney – last Saturday of each month – 130 FPP satellites available

These exclusive VIP tournaments can be found in your PokerStars game lobby under the ‘Tourney > VIP > All’ tab.

To remain a SilverStar, you need to earn at least 750 VPPs next month to maintain your level.

There are even more rewards for you if you hit GoldStar VIP status.  Earn 3,000 VPPs in a month and you will earn GoldStar status. To learn more about the VIP Club and the rewards offered, visit our web page at http://www.pokerstars.com/vip

Regards,

The PokerStars Team

To serious poker players this isn’t much, but to someone who’s taking their game serious from this year on, this is awesome! I have never achieved Silver Star status in the past, due to mostly not having enough volume or going busto. But this year neither happened, I put in the volume this month, and I showed a profit. I haven’t been on any kind of heater, just learning more and improving my game, so that’s what this means for me on a personal level.  But with this, I have gained an itch; I want to see how high I can grind up the VIP ladder. Even hopefully trying for SNE (Supernova Elite Status)  next year (depending on how well this year ends).

I never realized just how lucrative Star’s VIP system (http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/) really is in the past, till now.  And now I realize there is lots to be made just by putting in the time and effort regarding volume.  If I can play break even poker for a year and grind to SNE I can earn six-figures for that year...surely time will tell. But this is a happy day for me.  Now the next step is grinding to Gold Star Status in April, which is the month of my Spring Break! So I’ll have that week next month to put in some serious volume, so it’s definitely obtainable!

I’m stoked!

-The Shysti One

Milestone Madness!!!

Blargh!!!

 

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/promotions/100-billion/

So Poker Stars is celebrating their road to 100 billion hands and well you can win a ton of money if you’re in one of those milestone hands! Tempting right? It’s down right maddening!!! Even though I haven’t hit a milestone hand, today I had a few milestones of my own.  First, not only did I play one long ass session, non-stop for 10 hours straight, it was cash for 10 hours straight… I am a  tournament/sng player…Today was the very first time that I’ve ever played 8+ hours straight (and it not be due to a tournament I was deep in) and in cash.

I was very happy about this because it proved to myself that I could do it, if this were to ever become a career one day (not saying I’m going down that route, but you never know) and I showed a profit, and collected a good handful of VPP/FPPs since I am grinding for my bonus and silver star status.  I have never had silver star status because up until now I didn’t play as a really serious player.  This year, as stated in previous blog entries, is different. This is the year I began as a serious poker player and as such I must obtain more volume, start working on my  rake back.  Rake back through stars unique system is something I had never previously looked into, but you can make some serious cash back if you put in the volume and are serious about your game.  If you obtain supernova elite (not saying that I will this year, that’s wayyy down the road) you can pocket over 100k!!!

Anyhow, we haven’t reached the 60th billionth hand yet, so I am still hopeful. Tomorrow (today, its late in the a.m) is Poker Stars “Storm” tournament. Its replacing the old quarter mill, which the info can be found here:

Dear Poker Gods...Please give me the power of GreySkull Run good for this!

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/sunday-storm/

All in all, I love Poker Stars. I play there exclusively and there is so much coming up that I am going to be busy in my poker career for months ahead!

 

Stay Tuned…

The Shysti One.