Random Thoughts: So Close, Yet So Far Edition

1. With the process for US players to get their Full Tilt Poker money back beginning, you would think people would be going nuts at the thought of finally getting their Full Tilt money. Yet, most people haven't heard about it or just don't believe it. Yes, it may take awhile, even up to a year. But for those that have written their money off, you're now a very strong favorite to actually get it back (perhaps near certainty). It'll be a bit more of a wait, but it likely won't be another two years. If you've got a lot of money tied up at Full Tilt, make sure you jump through any hoops necessary since you should get it back. More Details online poker 468x60 2. Party Poker continues to go into the dumps whereas seems to be doing just fine. Not that anyone really cares, but Party stock tanked recently since well Party is just kind of tanking in general. Their grand envision now is turning poker into a sort-of RPG game where you earn achievements and stuff like that (apprarently winning money isn't a good enough reason to play at their site). Since the UIGEA was passed in 2006, Party Stock is down well over 90%, with a sizeable chunk of that drop coming in the past 3-4 years. In contrast, 888 stock has soared in the past few years and is now nearly as high as it was when the UIGEA was passed. There's a lot of reasons for this, but a lot of it boils down to 888 Poker being run competently. In contrast, Party/Bwin enjoys actng like a big, mean company and bullying around their partners and customers. This may fatten their profits in the short term but not the long term. 3. New Jersey online poker should be around in November...that's just two months away. So yes, we'll have legal online poker in a major state in the US before the end of the year and before the end of football season no less. For those Americans that don't live in Nevada (which is 99% of country), online poker is all but a distant memory. Bit by bit, we're getting there, and we're so close to a state with a significant population base having online poker soon. 4. The November 9 will finish off the Main Event in a few months as well. Oh wait, no one really cares about watching the WSOP final table unless you know one of those guys or you happen to be a huge JC Tran fan. Just a bunch of 20 something or 30 something guys playing once again. Yawn. At least we know the WSOP isn't rigged since a real celebrity or two would be at the final table each year. I'm not sure why Harrah's (oh I mean Ceasers) insists on delaying the final table until the middle of football season instead of having it in the middle of the summer. In the US at least, there's nothing to watch on TV in the middle of July, but come November, there's a ton of sporting events and other shows to watch that rank well ahead of nine young male degenerates playing poker.