Problems getting paid from Full Tilt and Poker Stars

As I’m sure most of you American Players have found out recently, Full Tilt and Poker Stars (and I’m sure other sites as well) are having major difficulty paying their US players.  I am hearing stories of players waiting 6-8 weeks to get a check from Full Tilt then finding out the account was closed and the check is no good.  I also know people who are still waiting for E-checks requested in May.  As of today neither Full Tilt or Poker Stars are even accepting requests for E-Checks.

Now, I hear a lot of grumbling that its a scam and that the sites are in financial trouble and trying to stall paying the players.  I seriously doubt even if they were in trouble, they would alienate their best players just to earn some interest on the accounts.  In the world of online poker, being seen as fair and supportive of your players is the only way to stay ahead.

Now with that said, I have done some checking and it seems that the biggest problems have to do with the poker rooms choice of banks.  Most of the sites we all use are sending money to US bank accounts to pay off their US players.  This is causing trouble because of the USIGEA, which made it illegal for US banks to process online gaming transactions.  Now of course there is not an actual law that forbids online poker or online gaming, the Wire Act was written for Sports Betting.

If your having trouble getting your money from your chosen poker site, stop just whining about, and get out there and tell your congressman that this has to change.  The first thing you can do is visit The Poker Players Alliance and send and email to your congressman, and then get involved.  Once our voices are heard, the Government will realize that Prohibition will not work and lawful regulation is the best choice.

The Worst Ten Presidents

I Stumbled onto this story in US News and Worldly Report about the 10 worst presidents in history. And I started thinking about where G.W. Bush will rank in this poll after he leaves office.

After Reading the list, it becomes painfully obvious that Dubya will rank in the very top of this list.

Several presidents are remembered for their lack of Conviction. For Example James Buchanan didn’t have the backbone to stand up what he thought was right and felt that the Constitution did not give him the powers to hold the Union together. Conviction is one area Dubya has never faltered on, in fact over the years he has shown that nothing will stand in his way when he has a plan, especially that pesky Constitution

Warren Harding was remembered more for his womanizing than his governing skills. He was known for letting his cronies ransack the government for their own gain. I think even Harding could learn from Dubya, between Halliburton and the numerous oil companies, I think he has set a record for the amount of government corruption while in office.

When we look back at his eight year in office, what will we remember? Four (maybe Five) dollar a gallon gas? The unending war in Iraq? The Valerie Plame Scandal? The prison on at Gitmo? The lack of Habieus Corpus? The no fly list? The lowest approval rating in history?

The one thing I can guarantee is that G.W Bush will have a place on this list for a very very long time.