I read recently on LegalPokerSites, Player to Player transfers will not be allowed according to the State of Nevada’s Minimum Internal Control Standards. I cannot blame them, player to player transfers are an open door the wrong people to abuse.
Player to player transfers opened up around 2004 (I am guessing here). I remember playing on Pacfic and PokerRoom in 2000-2003 and then Paradise and Party from 2003-2005 but I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) there were not any player to player transfers. I’m not sure who was first to implement them and I did not think too much about it at the time as I assumed it would be well regulated by the poker sites.
Then around 2008, especially on Full Tilt and PokerStars, player to player transfers were very very common. Which leads me to a personal story on how crazy the whole online poker boom of the mid-2000s really was.
After watching some football at my brothers house, my wife was driving my family home when my phone rang. It was the high-stake player, FoxwoodsFiend, who is a friend and a DeucesCracked coach. The conversation goes something like this:
FWF: Hey Joe, what are you doing?
me: Driving home after a family party, you?
FWF: Not much, you want to play some poker tonight?
me: Ummm, sure, what states?
FWF: $1000/$2000 HORSE…
me: ……………..ummmmm, what?
FWF: $1k/$2k HORSE on Full Tilt, the game is heads up right now, Eli Elezra and this crazy NL player, ASHMAN.
(At the time, ASHMAN was known to really gamble it up, this was one of Ash’s first meteoric rises to high stakes. Since then, I’ve befriended Ashton and have actually coached him in mix-games.)
me: Give me one second.
At this time, I pulled the phone down and asked my wife it was OK she watched our then-year-old daughter and explained what was about to happen.
me: Yes, I’ll play. I’ll need a transfer obviously.
FWF: How much do you need?
me: Well, I have to sit with at least 25 big bets ($50,000) and would like a little back up if it starts out slow.
FWF: OK, no problem, I’ll get you more than enough by the time you are home.
We then figured out our deal and I was set to play.
So, there I was heading home to play some of the highest stake poker that was ever played online. I had about $12,000 in my Full Tilt account at the time as I played mid-stakes online.
I got a glass of water, went to the bathroom, and sat in front of my computer. I opened up Full Tilt to find $102,000 in my account. I thought, wow, what a moment, what a unique and amazing moment.
What would my grandfather think?
What my grandfather, who lived through the great depression, grinded out nealy 40 years of hard work, scrapping and saving everything for his family, barely getting by at times, think of this?
Crazy right?
I got in there and got some good cards early, getting maximum from a few hands right away.
We played three handed for about 15 minutes which I was a bit surprised but soon after that the game quickly filled.
As sure enough, I eventually ended up in a tough spot against one of the better players. I did have the best seat on Eli and Ashton, which did me well for the session, but it was only a matter of time before I played a tough hand vs one of the other players. That is when I got tangled up with John D’Agostino, a very solid, east-coast player with a lot of stud-game experience.
Full Tilt Poker $1000/$2000 Limit Razz $200 Ante – 4 players – View hand 1641825
3rd Street: (0.8 SB)
Eli Elezra: xx xx 9
____Eli Elezra brings in for $300____Eli Elezra folds
theASHMAN103: xx xx 6____theASHMAN103 folds
Hero: 9
2
5___Hero completes___Hero calls
John DAgostino: xx xx 4____John DAgostino raises
4th Street: (5.1 SB) (2 players)
Hero: 9 2 5 8___Hero bets
John DAgostino: xx xx 4 K____John DAgostino calls
5th Street: (3.55 BB) (2 players)
John DAgostino: xx xx 4 K 5____John DAgostino bets
Hero: 9 2 5 8 8___Hero calls
6th Street: (5.55 BB) (2 players)
John DAgostino: xx xx 4 K 5 7____John DAgostino bets
Hero: 9 2 5 8 8 6
Hero has 15 seconds left to act___Hero calls
7th Street: (7.55 BB) (2 players)
John DAgostino: xx xx 4 K 5 7 xx____John DAgostino bets
Hero: 9 2 5 8 8 6 T___Hero calls
Final Pot: 9.55 BB
John DAgostino shows 7 5 4 K 5 7 A (K,7,5,4,A)
Hero shows 9 2 5 8 8 6 T (9,8,6,5,2)
Hero wins $19,098.
I posted the hand on the PokerRoad forums at the time (click here), and Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Daniel Alaei, and Isaac Haxton gave their thoughts on the hand. The hand was also heavily debated on the twoplustwo stud forum as well: Razz vs Dags.
This was one of those moments in online poker that will likely never happen again. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time and had put in the work to be prepared to play.
I can only dream of being in this situation again. Crazy right?
Thanks for reading,
Joe
