Disgusting Realization

I had a thought today that made me sick to my stomach.

The morons who sponsored the UIGEA were right. I still think the UIGEA was horribly wrong and will not do a single thing to address the situation. But in a way, this is exactly what they were talking about. Their attempt to fix it was lame and ridiculous, but things like this give them ammunition to enact these horrible laws.

I was operating under the fallacy that money kept in an account at someplace like Full Tilt Poker was safe. If something beyond my control happened to that money, I thought a respected site like Full Tilt Poker would do something to protect me and my funds.

I was wrong and the UIGEA folks were right. It is a totally unregulated industry that pretty much makes up its own rules on whether they want to protect your money or not. I am relegated to taking their word for the fact that my money was taken to the tables by some untraceable dirtbag and blown at the tables for absolutely no gain to him except the thrill of putting the screws to me. They've given me an IP address and a big text file of hand histories that show someone blowing my money to a few players over several hands.

There is no question that the player is not me. I played my final hands at the site, visited the Riverchasers tournament to chat with Al and Michael Craig for a few minutes, and the moment I logged off someone logged on from a completely different IP address and proceeded to ransack my bankroll.

Yet Full Tilt Poker, while not responsible for the disappearance of my money, certainly assisted in it's dispersal. There are no guarantees for your money. You are not putting it in a bank, you are not depositing it into a safe place. You are basically putting it in the hands of some foreign company, and hoping they have enough self-interest to protect your funds.

Again I remind you, do NOT keep your money on a poker site. It is not safe there, and if someone gets into your account you will not be protected in any way.