I've played on a few bit coin sites and I do have to say that seals is a joke imo. I could elaborate if anyone wants but I would avoid seals with clubs if possible, I've had some pretty unreal sessions over there that was definitely not your standard poker session, even not a standard online session.

I play on BtcOnTilt and I would say that it will probably be the number one bitcoin poker site once more people start playing there. It by far has the best software available right now.

Well, I just finished playing a freeroll on Seals and I will say it's the best software of the ones I've tried so far and they also seem to have a little more action on their tables. For some reason it wouldn't load under Ubuntu but came up fine in a virtual box running Windows. Prolly just something to do w/ the Flash port for Linux.

I did see your comments in this thread, delax. It looks like your original post was deleted for some reason?

I got 3-outered twice after shoving pf but I didn't get the impression anything weird was going on. Just seemed like a bunch of fish having a good time. I do think onTilt has some potential but they need to keep working on their software and find some ways to attract players. I wasn't even able to load up the lobbies on there earlier, some kind of connection error. Also, as noted earlier itt, I'm a little bit worried about their exchange rate.

short and easy answer to thread title:

I tried to get some bitcoins but found no way to actually buy them.

Is there a way whe I can buy bitcoins? And vice versa sell them damn things.

You can play on iOS and it would be nice to do that for something close to real (money).

But they will drop copper/zinc pennies on the street. Copper and zinc have intrinsic value, yet is not valued like gold. The reason why (most) people will treat gold special is mostly because it can be redeemed for valuable things. This is why people who hoard gold in a safe get no utility from it being locked away. It's merely a store of value. A store of value is valuable so long as someone else is willing to hold it.

Bitcoins at the very least are tied to "nerd status points". If gold can have an incredible value, far beyond most "useful" uses of it, so can Bitcoin. That being said, Bitcoin has a lot of issues (namely it's constant inflation, initial distribution, and insecurity of being so distributed).

Yeah I had that post deleted didn't like how I worded it was a bit of a rant haha. I'm not a big fan of the web browser based java poker. Its tolerable somewhat but if you want to play multiple tables it can get pretty frustrating. I like BTConTilts new software its almost like pokerstars (obviously not quite the same quality stars is the nut nut obv). Once they work out the problems I believe thats where the good action will be. As far as I know theyre the only ones that offer PLO, PLO 8 or better and stud.

I am also having this problem with the site today, wonder whats up usually I dont have a problem logging in maybe they're updating? Let me kno your name on there and I'll send you some chips muppets. I'm sure we've played already though before.

Where can one buy these coins in the us?

I haven't bought any yet but I would think the way to do it would be through an exchange like Mt. Gox.

And obv anyone who has bitcoins could sell you some.

Yea well there is no way u can buy coins for dollars there.

I signed on just to see and you sure can.

It does look like you have to make an additional account at Dwolla.com and eat a 25c transaction fee but I found the option in less than 30 seconds.

I agree with all of the above.

HOWEVER...

Where the US/Poker argument becomes tricky is that if Bitcoin exchanges (that accept VISA/MasterCard/eChecks) start selling USD6m per DAY worth of bitcoins (which is the approximate total of US deposits per day pre-BF on FTP/Stars alone) then the authorities will simply shut down the selling exchanges.

This is only a loophole if the scale stays small. To get the US mass market back to poker will take a LOT more than bitcoints... because the mass market uses VISA, MasterCard and eChecks.

do you have to be libertarian to use (or like) bitcoins ?


now for the serious part ... and i guess i am not the only interested in this:
- what equipment do you need to generate bitcoins (roughly said: is a 2006 laptop good enuff or do you need 2012 state-of-the-art desktop)
- are there different sites to generate bitcoins ?
- do i have some kind of online-bitcoin-account ?
- if so, this online account would be kinda equal to my neteller/moneybookers/wateva account which i use (americans: used) to deposit/withdraw from stars/ftp/etc?

thx for your help

To buy bitcoins here are some options
Dwolla (www.dwolla.com) - Use dwolla to fund your mtgox account
bitcoin-otc - Join the bitcoin-otc irc chat and find someone who will sell (#bitcoin-otc on irc.freenode.net), your best bet is to get a moneypak, or rarely people will sell via paypal
bitcointalk (bitcointalk.org) - Biggest forums, can buy/sell with different methods

If you need any help finding some bitcoins or finding a method to get some, hit me up via pm and ill see what I can do

I don't know how good the info here is but this is a howto on mining coins: http://startbitcoin.com/

If by perception you mean supply and demand then yes you're correct .

Totally agree, but the opportunity was/is always as a bridge solution until poker is finally regulated and brought back. At the same time, it could be an enormous boost to btc because it is not as dark as selling drugs/childporn/weapons, but is far more viable/useful than some restaurant in NY accepting coins. The current poker operators approached the situation as if online poker software needed to be rebuilt from the ground up and the results have not been pretty. Forget reaching pre-bf numbers, they can't even get a dozen players on most nights.

It is a catch22 for btc because as long as the ability to use the coins is fairly limited, it can be shuttered by cutting off the links to the exchanges.

Why is this thread so long seriously?

If FTP and Stars had been paying out in Pesos it wouldn't have changed a thing on black friday

Just because you use a different currency doesn't change a damn thing about the legality

Bitcoin could help battle the declining of strength of the USD, but that's about it

Do you really know whether or not bitcoin is legal?

As far as I'm aware it hasn't been recognised as a currency/commodity by any governing body. Would it be illegal for me to play poker with matchsticks and then by sheer luck find someone who wants to buy the matchsticks back off me for $3 each???

Well, I think despite recent events, the core legal issues have yet to be resolved. And tbh, I don't think people who are passionate about playing poker care very much about whether it's legal or not -- they're going to do it anyway.

Of course, the larger, related issue is the ease with which you can get money on and off the sites. In that regard, I still think bitcoin at least makes things more difficult for the government. Anonymity of the transactions and the lack of a third-party processor make it really difficult for them to get a grasp on it (the tactics used to go after FTP and Stars never would have worked). If this wasn't the case, the DEA would have shut down the Silk Road a long time ago.

The point about governments making it difficult to funnel money in and out of the bitcoin exchanges is legit. Even then, it wouldn't necessarily kill bitcoins if the government went after the processors used by the trading sites as they could still be traded between individuals or smaller entities.

Anyway, I think a lot of the interest in the thread is peripheral. At least, that's the way it is with me. For one thing, at least some of us are willing to run the risk of playing the remaining real money sites, which I guess goes back to what I was saying when I started this post.

One final thought: It seems like a lot of regulatory efforts are leading us down a path where player pools are limited by one's borders. I'm not saying it will happen, but if a bitcoin site became popular enough, the ability to provide a worldwide network of players would still be very attractive even in a post-regulatory US.

Bitcoins are decentralized currency that can be completely anonymous. There would be no payment processers and banks for the government to strong arm into not dealing with poker sites. Maybe the U.S. government could shut down poker sites that operated in bitcoins? (not sure what type of jurisdiction they have).

But I know the silk road, the site where people are buying and selling illegal drugs and firearms with bitcoins, caught the attention of some U.S. lawmaker and he was unsuccessful in getting it shut down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)

I think this contradicts the point that players should want to come out from the shadows and have this regulated. Obviously its good to have ways available to continue to play but the push should be towards being able to play with no worries.

Yes... if the authorities believe you played poker with the implied value of the matchsticks. Sheesh. This is a very old straw man.

agreed

Any computer technically can, but you are going to need a good graphics card, and even then, the cost of generating is often times > than the costs of the coins you generate

There are no sites you generate Bitcoins with.

You can, but they are almost all jokes and some have just lost the coins or stole them.

Yes, such things do exist (or at least used to when I actually cared enough about Bitcoins). They are about the equivalent of a 13 year old girl's geocities page in 1995 quality. The better solution is to just keep your wallet on your own computer, then send direct. The only downside of this is if your computer crashes and you don't back up your wallet. Or someone steals your wallet and you are SOL.

Basically, if you don't know wtf you are doing, you are going to get raped.

You can buy coins for dollars at MtGox. The most common way to get dollars into MtGox is via Dwolla. Dwolla is like PayPal, you set up your bank account once and then it's easy to get money to Dwolla.