The Only Poker Blog
That Matters PokerJunkie.com

Gary Wise posted on his blog earlier today about how he thinks the poker world feels. I think he does a good job capturing what I saw from players and media members all over the world.

He talked about how they feel betrayed by the sites, by the government, and by themselves. He talked about people being in fear of what’s to come and about the impact on the poker world.

Backup plans don't have to be this drastic of course.

Am I really one of the only people that saw this scenario coming and didn’t delude themselves to the possibility?

When I said I emptied my accounts because I saw this coming, that was not just something I wrote for press. While many of you are going to debate poker as a game of skill (which it is not, it’s a combination of skill AND luck) and some are going to debate the legality of the UIGEA, the fact remains that it was law.

Simply put, the law said do not use U.S. banks for online gambling transactions. The sites went out of their way to circumvent it and even to the point of paying off banks to launder the money.

They broke the law, and the DOJ is cracking down. It was going to happen, and now it has.

Now’s the Time to Consider Plan B

For those that are going to be affected, now it is time to consider going to your Plan B. Please tell me you have a Plan B. Regardless of what you do in life, whether it is poker or working at a factory, you should have a Plan B.

Personally, I have a Plan B, C, and even D. Folks like Gary Wise and others have the skills to go different directions when and if something happens to seriously impact their job. If you are involved in the poker industry and haven’t started working on your Plan B, I suggest you do so regardless of what happens.

How many online pros are beginning to panic due to the fact they dropped out of school and all they know is online poker? If they don’t have another plan, I expect all of them.

Granted, some will move over to live poker and others may make the drastic move of going overseas to continue playing online. Players will have to move somewhere close to a live casino if they plan to play live poker regularly.

It also makes me wonder how many will outright abandon the game now. If they do, I hope they have a backup plan or are going back to school.

You Always Need a Backup Plan

Regardless of your views on what happened yesterday, take away the fact that you ALWAYS need a backup plan. The old saying of “hope for the best, but plan for the worst” is one that everyone should heed.

I’m not freaking out about this whole ordeal, even though I am certain I am going to lose work and possibly my current job altogether eventually. I have plans in place as well as backups to those backups.

I am ready. Are you?