On July 8th, just before the 2015 WSOP, it was reported in Las Vegas that last years Main Event World Series of Poker winner will not have the chance to defend his title this year, but there is no shortage of pro poker players and some celebrities that will be trying to win the $7.68 million top prize. There were 4,371 card players in total that were still in the no limit Texas Hold’em tournament at the beginning of the second session on Wednesday. The tournament officials declared that the prize pool of $60.3 million would be split between the…

The politics of prohibition reared its ugly head again last month when legislation was introduced to ban all Internet gambling, including the fledgling intrastate web poker industry that exists in Nevada. The bill from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is a clear play to boost the chances of his long-shot presidential campaign. Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, a Republican Party mega-donor, happens to oppose Internet gambling, including poker. Web poker was played all over the country, for real money, before sites were shut down in 2011 by the Justice Department under a flawed interpretation of the Wire Act….

California online poker has quite the full house when it comes to legalization According to the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, there are 89 cardrooms in 32 counties in California, and of the 110 federally recognized tribes in the state, 58 of them run 60 casinos — many of which have poker rooms. Even so, there is still a big pot of money left on the table when you consider California online poker, a game that’s currently not legal in California. Only New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware have legalized Internet poker for now. Efforts to legalize web poker have been ongoing…

Bryan Micon, the man behind the bitcoin poker site Seals With Clubs that Nevada’s authorities closed in February, has agreed to plead guilty for running an unlicensed online poker room from Las Vegas. As announced here on Poker News on June 22, Micon decided to end his self-inflicted exile to Antigua and head back to the U.S. to participate in a hearing set for Thursday, June 25. During the hearing, Micon agreed to plead guilty – as this should allow him to avoid the risk of spending up to 10 years in prison, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports. Micon’s…

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) introduced H.R. 2888, the Internet Poker Freedom Act of 2015 Thursday morning. The legislation licenses and regulates Internet poker and seeks to restore the rights of people to play the “all-American” game, while at the same time protecting them from fraud. H.R. 2888 also mandates the implementation of technology that prohibits underage players, provides aid for problem gamblers, and preserves state’s rights. Rep. Barton issued the following statement about the Internet Poker Freedom Act of 2015: “Poker is an all-American game. It’s a game that I learned as a teen and continue to play today. Just…

Bryan Micon, former operator of the ‘Seals with Clubs’ Bitcoin poker site, will this week attend a court hearing in the US state of Nevada after being charged with operating an unlicensed gaming website. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Micon will on Thursday travel from his home in Antigua for the hearing in a Nevada court. The news comes after Micon was in April charged with one count of operating an unlicensed interactive gambling website. However, an arrest warrant that was approved in April in connection with the charges has now been recalled in order to allow Micon to…