I'm BACK! And so is my trading quest!

Okay, so it’s been almost five months since I’ve made a post, and more than eight months since I’ve made any progress in my quest to trade my way from a sixty cent check from an Internet poker room for a seat in the World Series of Poker.

But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up.

In fact, just yesterday, I made my fifth swap in my journey.

That’s right. Yesterday afternoon I traded a limited edition Super Bowl XXXVI football signed by Adam Vinatieri and a signed picture of Rodney Harrison for a 1993 bottle of Dom Perignon Cuvée.

Jason, a Providence, RI, resident, made the trade with me in a park in the city’s East Bay as the sun set. Jason and his wife were given the bottle as a gift for their wedding anniversary. But Jason’s wife has been sober for four years, so they didn’t have much use for a bottle of the world’s most famous champagne.

But Jason does happen to be a big New England Patriots fan (I didn’t tell him that I was a Giants fan … sorry Jason!), so the trade was a perfect fit for both parties!

So now, for a quick recap, I’ve traded a sixty cent check from an Internet poker room for a set of custom poker chips for a ABA basketball signed by the 1975-76 Indiana Pacers for two pieces of Jimi Hendrix’s childhood home for a Super Bowl XXXVI football signed by former Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri (and a signed picture of Rodney Harrison) for a 1993 bottle of Dom Perignon Cuvée.

As always, I’m interested in hearing all kinds of trade offers. The “value” of what you’re trading doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that it gets me closer to my goal of trading my way to a seat in the World Series of Poker.

Oh, and another caveat. For this trade, you’ll have to be legal drinking age.

So send any offers to . I’m looking forward to seeing what you have to offer!
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Yeah, it's been awhile ... but the "regulations" got me back

It’s been awhile.

Yes, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything on my blog. And people have been asking me if I’m still trying to trade my way from a 60-cent check from an Internet poker room to a seat in the World Series of Poker.

The answer is a resounding yes.

The reason I’ve been neglecting this blog, however, is that I’ve recently had a slight change in profession. I really enjoyed spending the last year and a half writing about the gambling industry. But an opportunity came along, and I couldn’t possibly pass on it.

Now while I no longer write about the industry, I still believe that the UIGEA was a terrible idea. Why, you ask? Well, this law is so bad that it took the Treasury Department twice as long as it was given to come up with the regulations necessary to enforce this crazy law. And according to its own report, which came out today, it will take 368,254 hours to enforce these regulations. That’s 185 people working 40 hours a week for 50 weeks.

Seems silly to me to put forward a law that could cost over $100 billion in WTO sanctions and pay 185 people to do something that’s producing no revenue.

As I’ve always said, regulation is the way. And until that happens, I’m still continuing my quest to trade my way from a 60-cent check from an Internet poker room to a seat in the World Series of Poker. Right now I’ve got a limited edition Super Bowl XXXVI football signed by Adam Vinatieri up for grabs. A signed picture of Rodney Harrison is included in the trade as well.

Think the UIGEA is silly? Want a piece of Patriots history too? Make me a trade offer and get me closer to my goal.

H.O.R.S.E.ing around

I won the first two $3.40 H.O.R.S.E. turbo SNGs I ever played on PokerStars, and I’ve loved them ever since.

I was getting a little bored while watching the final table of the WSOP Main Event live at Ryan’s house. I only had about $15 in my PokerStars account, and while I’m well aware that you should never plunk down 20 percent of your bankroll in one tournament, I had just been out at the WSOP to cover the $50,000 event and I liked the idea of jumping into a tournament myself.

Unfortunately, PokerStars doesn’t have anything with a buy-in lower than $3.40. But I figured that if I didn’t finish in the money, I’d still have 10 $1.20 buy-ins … again, not ideal, but with a $15 balance, does it really matter if you go broke?

After winning two consecutive H.O.R.S.E. SNGs that night to double the balance in my account, I figured it was worth taking a few more shots and seeing how long I could keep the run going.

I knew I was doing well, but even I was surprised at how good my run has been after taking a closer look at the numbers.

I’ve played in 32 of these babies, with 19 cashes and nine wins. I’ve made $59.20 in profit on $108.80 in entries, a return on investment of 54.4%. Even Warren Buffett would be envious of a return like that.

Maybe I’m aiming for the wrong tournament here with this whole Sixty Cent Main Event project ... anyone think it should be Sixty Cent $50,000 H.O.R.S.E.? I guess it doesn't roll of the tongue quite as well, does it ...