A little bit of history about me. I was an astonishingly bad online poker player (some people will say that I still am). I got a basic understanding of the game on the play money tables of the world’s largest online poker site, and then dipped my toe in the water with a couple of hundred dollars to launch what was intended to be a jet-setting career as an international poker star. Within a week it had all gone.
However, I didn’t give up and started playing on another site where I could use the loyalty points I earned from sports betting to enter multitable poker tournaments. It didn’t improve my game very much, but I got more experience and felt that in the right environment I could become a profitable player. Then I read something that turned my game around.
My Introduction to Bitcoin Poker
I came across a website called bitcoinsPoker.com and, as is suggested by the name, it is a review website for online poker sites which accept Bitcoins as a deposit option. I had heard about Bitcoins sometime previously and, although I hadn’t yet tried the virtual currency out, was interested to learn more.
There were a couple of sections about “what are Bitcoins” and how to buy and sell Bitcoins which pretty much confirmed what I already knew, but the bit which really caught my eye was at the bottom of a review for one of the Bitcoins poker sites – Seals with Clubs. It read:-
“Seals uses a system that I think helps people to play better poker, helping disassociate the chips on the table and their real money value.”
Sorry Seals – You Weren’t for Me
Seals with Clubs is the longest established online poker site that accepts Bitcoins as a deposit option and I had heard that it was packed full of “currency libertarians” who did not know the first thing about poker and were easy pickings. I thought that even I could not lose there, so I set up my Bitcoin wallet and a few days later made my first deposit.
The first lesson I learned about Bitcoin Poker was never to read out-of-date websites. The standard of play on Seals with Clubs is as good as any other online poker site that uses cash, and fortunately I found this out before I lost too many Bitcoins. Furthermore, because the site accepts players from the US – and I live in Europe – the majority of the action (and the most valuable tournaments) takes place far too late for my time zone.
Bitcoins Poker Part 2
As the value of the Bitcoin had risen since I first set up my Bitcoin wallet, I still had pretty much what I started with (history has shown that the value of the Bitcoin can go down as well as up), so I went back to BitcoinsPoker.com and looked at the other options for making a deposit into a poker site that accepted Bitcoins.
I picked on two in the end – not going to tell you which – only that one of them was a multi-denomination site that offered me a first deposit bonus and the other had astonishing value in its tournament overlays and freerolls. Depositing with both was just as easy as using an eWallet or credit card, and within minutes of my deposit being confirmed I was up and running.
Disassociating is the Key
The first of the two Bitcoin poker sites didn’t really do it for me either, as the site converted my Bitcoins into dollars whenever I played at the tables which sort of defeated the concept of disassociating the chips and their real money value. However, I thrived on the second Bitcoins poker site – taking down a couple of quite valuable poker tournaments and racking up a substantial profit.
I believe that disassociating the chips that you buy with Bitcoins from their real money value has turned my game around. It could be that I am practising better bankroll management or that my game has improved substantially – it could even be that the “currency libertarians” that were absent from the Seals with Clubs website all come from Europe!
I guess there are thousands of poker players around the world who can identify with me, and to you I say “don’t give up” and try Bitcoin poker.