Poker Woes and the Future

Due to the newly signed SAFE Port Act and Neteller closing for U.S. customers, I have found myself in a lot of complications, which has lead to me not playing much poker (and not blogging as much). My scenario is kind of unique... When I was in Atlantis for the PCA, Pokerstars had a live cashier stand where you could exchange your Pokerstars money for real cash- on the spot! They had a limit of withdrawaling $10,000 a day, so I did that until I didn't have any money in my stars account. At the time I didn't think it would be a problem getting money back on and I could just get it done through neteller which I have been doing for over a year with no problems.

When I returned home, I logged into Neteller and make a large deposit to re-fund my pokerstars, full tilt, and UB accounts. This was a very large deposit transaction, so I wasn't too worried after I saw it was pending for longer-than-usual. After a couple more days I got some gut-wrenching news that Neteller was to stop serving U.S. customers. This means all that money I depositted is dead, and from what I understand is "being held as evidence" by the FBI.

I have been in contact with Neteller throughout this ordeal. In a nutshell, they tell me to not believe any information that isn't directly from their site, and that my money is safe in my account but there is no sign of when I will be able to see that money. I asked them if its possible to get the money out if I move to a different country-- They said yes, as long as I show them a copy of my utility bill in that country, as well as some forms of identification.

So, if Neteller doesn't come through within the next couple months, I may have to establish residency in another country to get that money.

I have been mulling over the idea of moving to Vancouver, BC for some time now. It seems like it would be appropriate because I have virtually nothing holding me back except my friends, I really like Vancouver, and I can kill two birds with one stone...

During my off-time, I have been thinking about moving and getting back in to school to study pyschology. I already dropped out of college once, but if I were to go into it again, I would go in with a more mature mentality-- One that sees college as an opportunity,not just a higher level of schooling. What I mean by that is I am not going to go back to college strictly to get a degree for a job. I am going to learn what I appreciate and use that knowledge to do something I think is important and meaningful.

I have applied to a couple schools in Vancouver, so if it works out, I will be able to get into a nice school in Canada, which will free up my money and allow me to live a new kind of life. Plus, I would be able to play online again at stakes I am used to playing.

I know its kind of useless to plan things out like this because life changes so fast, but its just a preperation for what I might have to do.