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Online Poker Amber Alert

by , Nov 3, 2008 | 10:06 am

Comments (10)

Though this probably falls under the category of “bad for poker” … hey, it’s not like online poker has exactly been good for him. While the super-duper majority of us have lots of fun celebrating varying levels of degeneracy, a guy named Eivind apparently went a little off the deep end, and his friends are seriously concerned.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming poker itself as much as his friends are … if it wasn’t online poker it would be heroin … but either way, not a pretty picture, and a sad reminder that the online sites, in the spirit of responsible gambling, should probably have some sort of algorithm that monitors hours logged, rebuys, game escalation, etc. and sends out an alert when a user’s level of action reaches dangerous extremes. Of course that might just set a bar for many of us to strive for (“Hey, I got dangerous-gambling banned!”) … because doesn’t PokerStars already have something like that in play — I think they call it SuperNova?


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10 Comments to “Online Poker Amber Alert”


  1. Ed     says:
    November 3rd, 2008 at 9:29am

    Don’t worry Dan…it is not just online poker that can cause the weak willed to crumble. Had a friend back in late ’90s that got hooked on EverQuest and I think his place look like this guys after a while. One story I was told from a friend that roomed with him was pretty sad. He was playing…and realized he smelled bad from not having showered. What does he do? He goes and grabs a towel and wipes off. Not sure what he is doing these days.

    I also have known some friends who had houses that looked as messy. They were not hooked on anything….they were just lazy.


  2. zachdealer     says:
    November 3rd, 2008 at 11:24am

    world of warcraft is much much worse than online poker. I know some people who play 15 hours a day and will not get a job. same story different game.


  3. DanM     says:
    November 3rd, 2008 at 11:51am

    yeah, kinda agree. i wrote an article back in 1996 about a guy who was internet addicted … his things were MUDs and MOOs, which I think were the predecessors to WOW. He ended up fucking up at school, turning suicidal, etc.

    http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=7155F7796F354F21B1183937D847D6DF&tier=4&id=155C278B5EAA47F095A380E4B55E9CB1&AudID=29CB3DCAC7E94A08B642EC371FE6E70B

    Still, I do wonder what sort of “responsible gambling” alerts the online sites have, because while no good poker room/business would want one of their players to die, these dudes have to be great for the rake.


  4. Harris     says:
    November 3rd, 2008 at 2:35pm

    I think maybe his friends should have stepped in a little sooner. Dan your right when you say if it wasn’t online poker it would have been something else. I wonder who these guys are that are after him for money. You can’t get a marker online.


  5. DanM     says:
    November 3rd, 2008 at 3:14pm

    Perhaps he plays live in places, too?

    And you can get strangers avatars to transfer cash to you online, too. Of course you have no recourse if your money flees. And I’m sure PokerStars (Full Tilt, Everest, et al) don’t want to be in the position to police unofficial money transfer agreeements.


  6. DanM     says:
    November 3rd, 2008 at 3:54pm

    ***I also have known some friends who had houses that looked as messy. They were not hooked on anything….they were just lazy.***

    This pic rang a little true to me, as below it you can see a glimpse of Pokerati headquarters during the WSOP:

    (Amazing that Coca-Cola doesn’t see the product-placement potential.)


  7. David A     says:
    November 3rd, 2008 at 7:27pm

    Lol…

    Maybe he made enough, from all that focus….
    and said… I’m out of here…

    He’s on a beach, with drinks, babes
    somewhere laughing thinkin’…

    And my friends thought i was crazy…


  8. peter byron     says:
    November 5th, 2008 at 10:28am

    man….
    i heard about this guy
    he´s a legend in oslo the capital of norway

    hes eas a issue of a huge campaign to try to find him
    his friends went to tv networks

    some band even made a music about him

    there are rummors that he went to Las Vegas


  9. DanM     says:
    November 5th, 2008 at 1:23pm

    would love to hear the song written about him. is it on youtube?

    i did find this picture of Eivind, who is either a legendary degenerate in need of serious help … or a guy with some nosy friends who won’t stop buggin’:


  10. peter byron     says:
    November 6th, 2008 at 2:31pm

    as soon as i can i will post the video here
    i spoke to a guy who once played with him