The only way you could set up a real money option would be to set up an exchange rate and then whoever is managing the server set up the banking and the tracking. Then there’d have to be a way to get the money transferred around and so on. Honestly, it’s something I wouldn’t want to deal with.
well i would certainly kick in. also, i’ll play just for fun or if someone wanted to figure out a way to track real money i’m up for that as well.
I’m open to either PokerStars or PokerMavens. If we go with Ast’s plan, I’m good for $20. Hey Ast, can you give me any links to what you’ve discovered wrt PokerMavens?
I’m in the US and can deposit money easily on Full Tilt. Then again, I’ve had an account there since pre-UIGEA, so I don’t know if it’s as easy for new depositors as it is for me.
The website for the software itself is Briggs Softworks: Poker Mavens - Poker Software for Windows and everyone can take a look and try a game at the public servers listed at http://www.pokermavens.net
if we wanted to play for small money without the hassle of exchange/tracking, why not just play a free-money tournament style, and every player paypal’s the winner their entry directly? i think if anywhere could survive an honour-system, it’s the dope, right?
in any case, cash or free, i’m interested as soon as someone posts times/dates/details 
and i don’t have a problem with this either. i mean, i assume, we are talking relatively low stakes so even if the rest of you suckers failed to bow to the coming reign that would be mine it’s not like i’d be out a ton of cash.
This is as good a time as any :
How exactly do we do poker on here? I mean, I know how to play, I just mean, Cecil doesn’t have a poker room that you can only access through the trap door in the linen closet, right?*
I mean, software has to enter at some point, and I can only wonder how legal it is.
*And I am guessing the Password for entry is " Hi, Opal! "
I may be able to help a little. I am a serious player and have played on almost every online site at some point or another. I have thousands of posts on 2+2 and know most of the ins and outs of funding. legality and the various sites.
I want to make clear that playing poker for money on the internet is rather unambiguously legal in the United States. The UIGEA made targetted the movement of money from various financial institutions to the sites. So it used to be really easy to get funds onto a site and back off again. This is now the most challenging part of playing poker, but it is relatively easy on the biggest sites. I would use Full Tilt or Poker Stars if you are going to play. They are the largest players in the US market and the most trusted.
You start by going to the website and downloading the software and then you create an account with a username, password and avatar. From there you can play for play money or real money if you follow up with a deposit.
Though I play almost exclusively on Full Tilt, I would suggest that Poker Stars is the clear choice for this group. Their customer service is excellent, and they hold many private tournaments for various groups. They are also the first place I would go for players who want to play microstakes real money games.
If anyone has any questions I am happy to help.
I co-sign everything fruitbat says re: the legality and logistics of online poker.
('bat, what stakes do you play and what’s your 2+2 name? PM me if you want.)
We would need someone with 2000 FPP’s to set up the game each week. And what are the minimum stakes for private tourneys at Stars?
For what it’s worth, the money never really drove this game, and even though some of us have accounts at Pokerstars, the availability of a game to the most Dopers possible is what is best for now.
We (actually, others since I didn’t play then) started off playing at Yahoo but it was difficult because Yahoo didn’t have a tournament structure. We went through a few real money sites back when funding was easy, but even then there were two problems - first, some Dopers couldn’t afford any real money (though once we found a site with dime or penny games that went away) and second, any real money site we found would only take Windows, leaving anyone with a Mac out.
While there are advantages to a real money site, the software Ast found works well for our purposes, and IMHO will allow the maximum number of Dopers to play.
I’ll match Yeti and pitch in $20 also.
Ast, you can have my $24.05 sitting at Crazy Poker. We’ll need to schedule a time to play off our funds to someone to close out, though, since you have to have $50 in order to withdraw.
To second what Dag said, it’s not about the money. It’s more about the verbal abuse.
I’m good for $20, if we decide to buy and run that hosting software.
If we go the PokerMavens route, Ast (or whoever) would set up a game and post a link. The player is Flash-based, so the players would not have to download any software, only the host.
Seconded.
Thirded…plus bragging rights…
Oh, did I mentioned that I crushed you hapless little bugs last quarter?
Ok, looks like we have a quorum here, moneywise. Ast, could you PM your address me and to the others that offered to kick in on the purchase so I could send you a check?
yeh, just pm me where you want to send a check. 20 bucks, right?
What’s the plan for tomorrow night?