Bodog + Pokertracker + Gametime = Money

I read somewhere about the DogWatch Handgrabber for Bodog and thought I'd give it a try. After all, the only thing that kept me from Bodog in the past was that I couldn't use PokerTracker with it, and this program finally would allow me to do that.

At first, trying to get DogWatch to work didn't go smoothly. I foolishly sat at a 3/6 NL table while I tried to get it to mine hands, but I didn't realize that the demo version of the software only worked on tables up to .05/.10 NL. That led to me blowing $300 when I hit the idiot end of a straight on the river. Boo.

Another problem I had was trying to get real-time stats overlaid on my tables, since PokerAce HUD doesn't yet support Bodog. But it didn't take me long to realize that the trusty (and free) Gametime+ alternative works just fine. I didn't find any mention of Gametime+ at all in the 2+2 thread, which at first made me think it wasn't compatible.

Here's how you get DogWatch set up to work on Bodog tables above $10:

1) Pay $19 for a registered version of the software.

2) In your Bodog client, under "Account & Preferences," make sure all the boxes under the "Game Details" tab are checked.

3) Click on the lightening bolt icon in PokerTracker and point it to your DogWatch hand history directory, which for me defaulted at C:\Program Files\DogWatch Handgrabber\HHData

4) Once you see that PokerTracker is collecting hands, use Gametime+ to select a player at one of your active tables, and stats should appear as normal. The players in Gametime+ will be listed with "(PTY)" next to their screen names because the hand histories are saved in PokerTracker in the Party Poker format.

5) You'll have to correctly align the overlaid stats to the players they match, but that's just common sense.

And there you go! You'll see all the 60 and 70 percenters that have been hiding out in the land without player tracking.

I've found the waters to be very fishy so far, but the software is kind of annoying. Sometimes it's difficult for me to keep track of the button and the previous action, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

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I got an e-mail from online payment processor Moneybookers yesterday saying they're closing shop for all gambling transactions with U.S. customers.

What wusses.

When I originally funded my Moneybookers account, I made a wire transfer to Germany to do so. Moneybookers also has some e-wallet business not associated with gambling, and no one knows whether federal regulators will put them on the list of banned Internet gambling sites as they form their rules over the next 200-something days.

I can understand shutting off your U.S. customer base once you know your business is prohibited, but doing so now seems premature. Maybe markets are efficient, but I haven't seen any evidence of it in response to the Internet gambling legislation.