Doing it the hard way

[DASH7]

:D Call me stupid, call me whipped, but I can finally play for real money online.
My wife and our money situation would not let me deposit any money at an online site, although the situation is changing and I can work on my wife a little more.
So for the past 2 months I've been earning Ultimate Points at UB by playing in play money games and using the points to buy into some tournaments that pay off in cash for the top 40-50. The first one, I finished off the money by 8. The second, 3 weeks ago, I won for a pay off of $15.
In the 3 weeks since, I've tripled my money playing low limits and a couple of sng's. I've kept to the low limits and have moved up from the .01/.02 NL to the .5/1 limit games as my bankroll has grown. Hopefully I can continue to move up in limits as the bankroll grows.
I hope the poker gods won't frown on me soon and bring me down again but I'm doing my best to play my game and keep that from happening.
Thanks, I just wanted to share the story.

[ORGrinder]

nice.

sounds like you did it the smart way. i wanted to play for real money too online, but simply would not link a bank account to ANY online casino, and didn't want to spend more than $20. i seemed to be out of luck in my attempts to find a decent site that would permit these things so i stuck to the play money.

maybe i should use your method to get into the real money games without having to link a bank account!

[JohnnyCache]

I read his post and went to ultimate bet and I'm really liking it. . . only complaint is it's a little crowded, esp at the low limit and play tables But it's a great site and the app runs FAST even on my old computer.

[ORGrinder]

i tried it out myself too and simply don't like UB enough to stick around. i'm too used to TruePoker, and a point an hour isn't exactly worth it to me. i'll probably just create a free checking account so that i have a safe harbor in order to sign up and add money to my TP account.

[JohnnyCache]

Does true poker do something different or better? So far UB is the best site I've found . . . I guess that doesn't preclude a better site from existing . . .

[ORGrinder]

the graphics and the feel and action of game play are simply more natural over on TP (in my opinion). it just makes for a better game. TP however, is quite lacking in the kewl reward types of things that UB has. there's no rewards program, and they don't even have any of the very low limit tables like UB has... and their "low limit" games are really all the low, so losing your $$ can happen quickly if you aren't particularly skilled.

[DASH7]

Just to let you know, its 1 point per hour per table.
For example: If you play 3 tables for 1 hour you get 3 points.
I know it is tedious at times. I found myself looking at the internet a lot between hands, petting the dog, chasing my wife around, etc. It is definitely not the way to hone your poker skills.

[JohnnyCache]

Yeah, this is true, but at the same time, I am in a situation where I can only afford to gamble (in the context of affording things I try to substitute the phrase "light on fire" with "gamble") so much a week . . . not more then twenty or thirty dollars . . . also, my lifestyle and work schedule don't let me sit at a lot of tournaments either . . . so at least the points make playing at a free table at ultimate bet worth a little something so people don't play like shcmucks all the time.