It started a few years ago, just before I took a trip to Lake Tahoe. An acquaintance offered their Global Poker account to the group since they could no longer play or cash out from where they lived. Both Larry and I responded saying that we were interested in the offer. So, to be fair, our mutual friend decided to give us equal access to the account and let us decide how to split the funds. The only problem was that Global did not support any player-to-player transactions. Looking back on how we did, both of us working together would be a good thing.
Once we received the password to the account, the first thing we decided to do was to study the terms and conditions of the site. We discussed some ground rules for the account and how it should be used.
- We were not going to log into the account from our home network.
- We would avoid using any VPNs since this could possibly get the account banned.
- Establish play on the site with Las Vegas as the location for the geotag.
The next thing we needed to get done was for me to create an account. We both agreed that my account would be used to redeem any cash prizes. I had no idea what to expect but based on the terms of service, it seemed like it would be a good idea to also have my account verified. I spent extra time reading the terms and conditions just to make sure we didn’t miss anything. The biggest thing that I was able to find was that they could ban us for any reason, we would need to do our best to stay under the radar. After some discussion on what to do next, we both agreed that showing consistency by having one of us play on the account could possibly buy us more time before the account could get flagged.
Our plan was simple. Once we ran up the stack and were ready to withdraw, we would start to play at the same table. We wanted to avoid sitting at a table heads-up. Instead, we would look for a table where we could play three or four handed and if everyone else left it would be fine. Larry would be on a private chat with me and tell me what hand he had. If everyone else folded their hand, then we would make bigger bets so we could dump money into my account. One of our big concerns about dumping chips was trying to make it look natural. A friend of ours had warned us that he tried dumping chips once to another player because they had bought his chips and was instantly banned from Global Poker. Because of this we knew that Global did actively monitor the site. Larry would play like a maniac so moving a lot of chips in a hand would look normal.
A few days went by without any word from Larry. Then he sent me a message telling me that I needed to play on Global Poker. The games were soft. He had run up the stack that was gifted to us and had even started to play 100NL. We had started with about $400 or $500 in the account and Larry had run it up to over $1,000. He kept telling me about hands that he played where he would get it all in and win. I knew I needed to start playing on the site, but could it really be that soft? There was a part of me that thought he was just running great. Then again, I knew that Global Poker had always been known for having good games that were soft. If I wanted any chance at being able to redeem any cash from the site that meant I would find out for myself how the games were. I would have to play on the site and grind the little amount of money that I had deposited.
At first, I didn’t really see any difference in the games. To me, it seemed like any other online site. You had some aggressive players, some passive players, and even some players that didn’t seem to know what they were doing. As I played more on the site, I started to notice how players would just get it all in. Almost as if they didn’t view this as real money. Even though I didn’t have much money on the site, I started to play bigger games so I could familiarize myself with how the player pool played. After a couple weeks of playing, I had run up my stack. Now that I had a few buy-ins for bigger games, Larry and I agreed we should start getting the funds out of the gifted account.
The first few sessions went great. We decided not to cash out everything right away. It might raise a flag if I cashed out everything at once. Instead, I would request to withdraw a small amount at first while we continued to play. We kept playing while we waited to see if the withdraw request would be approved. Within a few business days the request was approved, and the funds were deposited into my bank account. We continued like this for a few weeks. The only problem is that Larry kept winning money, so it was like we were starting over each time that we played together to dump chips. Soon my account had started to accrue a lot of chips. The few times that I logged into the account, I would have winning sessions. Sometimes it really felt like players were just going all in to flip. After a few months of playing on the account we received a message from our mutual friend. The account had been banned. We had lost whatever funds we were unable to dump from that account. It had been a good run while it lasted. Shortly after the account had been banned, I put in a request to cash out the money that we managed to get and split the money.
Since I had no reason to play on the account, Global Poker sort of went on the back burner and I stopped playing on the site. I even forgotten how much money I still had in my account. One day my poker tracker app had an update. They added a feature where you could now keep track of your total poker roll. I decided to do a little bookkeeping and tally up all my funds that I had dedicated to poker. This meant I had to log into Global to find out how much I had in the account. While I was on the site, I of course started to play and discover once again how soft the site was.
This was the beginning of what would be a two-year grind on that site. I started with around $400 and quickly doubled it. I decided I would start playing 100NL more often to test my skill. For the most part, I won but I had bad sessions too. At first, I only looked for full ring games to play in but soon I found myself sitting at empty tables waiting for someone to join so I could play them heads-up or just get another game going. I don’t consider myself a heads-up specialist or anything like that, but the experience I gained was invaluable. Before I realized it, my account broke $1000. I kept running it up until I reached $2000. I decided to keep playing and came up with a rule on when I could make any kind of withdrawal from my account. I would only take out about a third of the funds and continue playing with everything else so I could keep moving up stakes. Every month I would request to make a withdrawal and soon I had a steady stream of income of about $300 to $400.
As the months went by, I started to settle in and recognize some of the regulars on the site. I even met some players in real life through casual conversations about poker. I had myself become a regular on Global Poker. Occasionally I would receive an offer where I could double my purchase. Sometimes I would take a break when I needed to clear my head from poker. Unfortunately, I was never able to get all the way back to $2000 again. I got really close a few times but never crossed that line again. I don’t know if it was my game, a mental block, or if I had been withdrawing too frequently but in the end it wouldn’t matter.
On December 15th, 2024, I received an email from Global Poker. This was the end of the site as I would know it. They were going to be pulling out of Nevada. While I don’t know the official reason why, it had been something that I had been suspicious of for many months. Global had been pulling out of other states and it felt like it was just a matter of time before they would pull out of Nevada. When you look at the online poker landscape and the way it has been forming ever since online gambling has become regulated, there are what I feel are some obvious reasons as to why this is happening. I decided to withdraw all my funds from Global Poker just before Christmas and just end it. I am not sure when I will go back to playing poker online but when I do, I will probably start playing on the only regulated site that is available in Nevada.
Total Hands Played: 40,695
Total Withdrawals: $2652.15