What to do ?

I really don't know...With Neteller pulling out, the question is-Is it worth setting up a Canadian or off shore account along with a proxy server? Obviously, playing 99% of the time at PStars is a possibility, but the action will dry up there sooner or later, and the games will get tougher than they already are.

If I was a full time pro, the answer is an easy one, but for a 100NL player, it just may not be worth the hassle. It's a frustrating time for all players, but I have to be glad my livelihood doesn't depend on the game of poker. Right now, I am tempted to drain all the funds and get more active in trading the markets, but that remains to be seen.

A Recap of 2006

As I look back, 2006 just wasn't all that interesting! I only had one concrete goal at the beginning of the year and fell woefully short of that. That goal was to be a 8PTBB/100 winner at 100NL, and I wasn't even close. I hadn't looked at my PT stats in quite awhile and perhaps there was a good reason for that! From a pure money point of view, I spun my wheels for most of the year without getting anywhere although I felt I was making decent progress improving my game in the last couple of months.

The first six or seven months were really a grind as I managed to earn a few bonuses to make up for some small losses. During this time, a friend started looking at a large number of hand histories with me and I managed to slowly plug a few leaks. The main thing I gained during the hand reviews was that I have calling station tendencies . I also needed to work on overall aggressiveness, which I feel was improving quite a bit.

One of the areas I worked on the hardest was a simple sounding goal, and that was to PAY ATTENTION. Although I enjoy poker on several different levels, I do have a tendency to get bored quickly and end up with the attention span of a child. As I improved in this area, it paid dividends immediately. I remember vividly actually putting people on hands, going with my reads, raising weakness...damn, REAL poker!

Another highlight had nothing to do with poker, but of course there was gambling involved. I gave the guys over at Up For Poker a few bucks as did many other bloggers, and we were a nose away from the pick 6. We won enough there to have a freeroll at The Breeder's, but didn't come quite as close that time.

Of course from a gambling point of view, the low light of the year can be summed up in one word---Frist. This has been discussed and blogged about a million times over, so I won't belabor the point here, other than to repeat that my motivation suffered mightily, and whatever fun i had in poker was pretty much gone.

The latter part of the year was of course my favorite, since I managed to win a few bucks. Winning the BTP Championship was a great feeling and I'm quite proud of that, as well as being runner-up last year. If nothing else, I am as steady as they come! And then we enter the month of December, which for an old curmudgeon like myself is typically not my favorite month. It is now! I kicked ass, won a good chunk of change, and played as well as I know how. I played the largest SNGs of my career (a few 200s) and did quite well, and cashed nicely in the "old timers tourney" at Stars for my best month ever.

It was a great way to finish off the year and left me feeling great, and ready to go for 2007. I have several things I want to work on , and some of them actually pertain to poker. Good luck all, and Happy New Year.