Unfortunately the new law signed in by President Bush has finally caught up to me. When the law was signed I withdrew $1000 from my Pokerstars account, leaving myself with $100 to play around with. I needed the money and wasn't in the mood to have it somehow stuck on Pokerstars longer than need be. In the last week I went broke for my remaining money on Stars and now I can no longer deposit money back onto online poker.
Most of you know that I'm currently studying abroad in Australia. In order to set up a Neteller account I need to give them a phone number to contact me and confirm it's me, etc, etc, but I don't think they would call me here. So until at least December, and maybe longer, I will not be home and able to open a new account with Neteller and put money back online, nor am I sure that I want to.
The last month has been a banner month for me, a few of you may remember me posting about my success in satelite tournaments. I cashed in 6 of 13 attempts and made over $1000 selling $T, but the high thrills of winning $215 seats at a time really killed my ability to enjoy my usual $10 games. I lost interest in playing for small stakes and poker was becoming more of a burden. I kept finding myself opening Pokerstars then simply closing it down, I just didn't have the heart anymore. I used my last $100 to play in 3 $30 tournaments and lost each one. I won't go into detail but to say I played them well and things just didn't work out - it wasn't above my skill level at all. I lost all in to draws twice and the third time just couldn't get anything started.
So I think this might be a good thing, a hiatus - intentional or not. I look forward to being back on campus at Ohio State where I know of several live cash games a week, games that are still enjoyable for me. Something about playing live, even though the pace is much slower and stakes lower, is so much more entertaining and exciting. Whether or not I deposit back into online poker once I'm back in the States is a matter I'll have to decide on then.
When I came to Australia I had $3000 in my account from federal Stafford Loans and a loan from my parents. I've kept detailed accounts of my spending habits here, and I've spent nearly $2,800 since I arrived in June. Thanks to online poker, I've been able to make $2,200 of that back! So without online poker I would really be hurting money-wise, but I think I can take a break, who knows, get a real job, hahahah.
I still plan on being active on the forums, commenting on other's hand histories and posts, especially in the Poker Idol competition. I have a really firm grasp on strategy and playing the game and I won't let that go to waste simply because I'm not currently playing. Maybe I'll start playing in some of the freerolls offered by the forum, we'll see.
So if you don't see or hear much of me in the next month or so, no worries - I'm here reading everything, and I'll be happy to rail some people if they're deep in tournaments (even though I won't be able to talk because my account is at $0.41, haha).
It's been real, we'll talk soon,
Steven
My law-enforced Hiatus from Poker 
