Poker Perambulation

Grubby’s encounter with a funding mechanism has inspired me to mention that I was drug screaming to a different one at TonyG. It is ePassporte. (What’s with these names?) And, I now have a ‘virtual’ Visa. It was fairly painless.

I told them everything but my shoe size and they set a locked amount on the real card I gave them. I went online there and in minutes had the amount ($1.35) they’d locked. I typed that in the session that I was still in there and boom! the $25 starting amount was in my account – less the $5 startup fee. You can get a plastic version for a $35 fee.

I went and read their FAQ and it has its annoyances if you get their plastic. If you use it for gas, you must have $50 before the transaction. They freeze that amount. I guess if Linda want to fill her dual tank monster she could have problems. If you dine, they freeze an extra 20% for a possible tip being added. So, it isn’t the greatest plastic to have for real world transactions. I won’t be getting the added actual card option.

The virtual card did come with everything a true Visa has. That includes the CVV2 number needed for online transactions. The virtual card is usable at Amazon and the like. If you opt for the real plastic, you end up with two different sets of numbers going against the one account.

They don’t mention fees. I’m hoping it is one of those Neteller type setups where the fee is absorbed by the site. They also do EFT or send checks out. So, there is a two way street. At this point, they look like the best thing available. It is the closest thing I have seen to what Neteller was.

As I said, I was drug to opening the account by the folks at TonyG. I am still in the process of getting the several hundred I had on that site off. If you look at the blog where Tony announced the way to transfer to another site – truly Rube Goldberg in design – you’ll see a lot of crying about ‘Where’s my money?’ after a couple of days. Damn, but we are a crying lot. He created a back office nightmare that was manual actions by the always limited staff. That doesn’t ever work well.

Anyway, after jumping through hoops of my own creation – I use a vanity email setup on the sites that don’t have outbound email – they agreed that I was me. The transfer is being made. Took a bit of time; but time I sorta got. I don’t put money out there that I need to get back quickly.

Anyway, I’ll now have a decent roll available again. The money on Neteller remains in limbo – fortunately it wasn’t a lot. I was lucky there by only a few days. I made a EFT that went through the week before.

With money available shortly, I’m looking to fund at Ultimate Bet. But, they won’t see my deposit until I see some bonus. I see Grubby also found some bonus. Geez, Louise! Party Poker is only giving 14-days to clear bonus. That sucks! Seems ok if you are a big multi-tabler at full rake tables. For those who like a single session or a bit lower blind or buyin setup, you’ll have a hell of a time clearing bonus in 14 days and keeping your day job. Clearing that Party bonus isn’t the type of bonus I am looking for.

There is a bonus available at Full Tilt. It is also a short term one but has a nice feature. If you donate to the PPA, you get 2.5x the amount donated in another short term and separate bonus. It is another annoying bonus — but for a good cause.

ADDENDUM:

My saga of the free $5 continue. I played a session at Wingows. There was one of those any two cards and lets gamble players on a tear at my table and he sucked out on me too. He went about 5x his money in short order. It was a small buyin so I’m still in ‘good’ shape with about $18 in that account.

At Ultimate Bet, I went cold and now am coming back. I run it up a bit and then give back most. It too is around $20. Down from the high in the low 30’s. I seem to get a bit of traction and then it falls back. It doesn’t look like I’ll be making a Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson run in short order. (Chris took freeroll money and ran it up to several thousand.) He did it in SnG’s primarily and I’m a SnG burnout.

I have a bit more on FullTilt and the cards there haven’t been that kind. I dropped two buyins on the Horse tables there in the same period. I’m still ahead playing HORSE there but it is the same 2-steps forward and one back that I have seemed to establish. I just can’t hit a burner anywhere these days.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2007 at 7:15 am and is filed under Journal, Poker Other, poker legislation. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.