June 26, 2007: Brewers and Injuns

I visited Miller Park this afternoon and watched the Brewers beat Houston after a walk-off home run by Damian Miller in the 11th inning. Considering the fact that Miller hadn't hit a home run all season, it was rather suprising to see him jack one out to secure the 6-3 victory. I'm sure he was excited to hit the game-winning HR on LaCrosse Day - which is his original hometown.

After the game ended, I had 40 minutes of free time available - so I went to Potawatomi Casino in downtown Milwaukee. I only had time to play two shoes at a $10 table, but I tallied a healthy profit of $145 during that time. I actually won $180 in the first shoe (I got hot!), but I lost a bit of it back in my 2nd shoe. Regardless, it felt good to leave the Injuns with some winnings! I recall doubling down 4 different times during my abbreviated session, and I won each time.

Only one more day until BDI X!

Daily Sketch: Up $145
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $294.91

June 25, 2007: Golfing at Dretzka

I went golfing with Ty, Chris, and Pat at Dretzka Park after work today. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my 'A' game and threw a rather pedestrian 48 at the course over the nine holes I played.

Along the way, we played $1 skins and I played Ty for a-buck-a-hole. After everything shook out, I owed Ty $9 - so that's the entry for today. Oops!

Daily Sketch: Down $9
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $149.91

June 24, 2007: Doubling my Money

I had a pretty good day on UltimateBet Poker today. I played a variety of games - from poker to blackjack to roshambo - and I finished my day with a tidy profit of $61.16. In fact, when my account balance got a lick above $200, I was plenty happy and called it a day in the exciting world of online gambling.

I've doubled my original $100 investment in just a few days. With that in mind, I thought I'd try to withdraw $100 and see if I could debit it directly back to my gift card. Now that I'm back in the game, I'd like to establish a new poker account at Pokerstars, in particular. If I can use the same gift card to do that, I'd be very happy!

Unfortunately, UltimateBet's only withdrawal options were ePassporte, check by mail, or wire transfer. Since I've only got $200 in my account, it isn't worth cashing out. If/when my account balance gets to $1k, then I'll think about having a check mailed to my Germantown home. Until then, we'll see if I can keep winning.

Daily Sketch: Up $61.16
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $158.91

June 23, 2007: Arlington Horse Track

Today was my wife's birthday, and she decided that she wanted to celebrate by visiting Arlington Horse Track. I guess that's why I married her!

Betting $12 Exacta races all afternoon, I was able to correctly predict 3 of the 10 races. The Exactas didn't have any wild payoffs, so I only claimed a modest profit of $58.25 today. Unfortunately, my wife lost $100, but since this is my Sketchbook (and not hers), this website shows a profit of $58.25 - even though the entire pool of family funds did take a hit this afternoon.

Daily Sketch: Up $58.25
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $97.75

June 22, 2007: I'm Back!!

It's been quite some time since I logged an entry into the Sketchbook. Without a viable method of depositing money into my online poker accounts, I haven't been inspired to do much gambling over the past few months - relatively speaking.

Since my last entry, I've organized my annual NCAA basketball pool, hosted a Spotted Cow Poker Tournament, joined a NASCAR pool, played in some golf pools, visited Potawatomi a few times, and made a variety of small wagers. However, do to the infrequency of these events, I had generally given up on keeping this blog current. After all, I didn't want to bore my readers to death!

That may change - effective today!

Last evening, I visited my local Walgreen's store and invested $100 in a Visa Gift Card. Through conversations I've seen on the internet, these gift cards have become a viable tool for funding online accounts in the poker world. It cost $5.95 to activate the card, but that's a small price to pay for some SWEEEET action on the internet.

After purchasing the card, I raced home to see if it would work. I've tried funding my online accounts via traditional credit cards, but recent crackdowns by the Federal Government have prevented me from using my normal credit cards. Apparently, if I had been using credit cards before the recent crackdown, I wouldn't have problems. However, "new and unique" activity on credit cards is being watched, so I was out of luck.

Since this is a Visa Gift Card, I wasn't certain this would work, but it was worth the try. I logged into UltimateBet, typed in all my information, and the transaction went through. Just like that, I had $100 in my account and I was ready to play poker. Woo hoo!!

I can't say that I gambled heavily last evening. After all, I only have $100 in my account right now. So, I sat down at a 6-man $1/$2 table and played for about 75 minutes. I won exactly $39.50 - so I experienced a winning session.

Walgreen's didn't have any cards that exceeded $100. However, I see that U.S. Bank offers gift cards that go up to $500, so I may pursue that avenue someday. For now, I think I'll simply play with the proceeds from my $100 Visa Gift Card and see what happens.

Wish me luck! I'm back!

Daily Sketch: Up $39.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $39.50