Everyone is abuzz with the impending book from the “Poker Princess” Molly Bloom, Molly’s Game: High Stakes, Hollywood’s Elite, Hotshot Bankers, My Life in the World of Underground Poker which promises to “name names” from the high-stakes, private Hollywood Home games.

While it’s rumored that she takes a liking to poker-friendly actors like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck , supposedly Spider-man himself, Tobey Maguire is painted in a less than heroic light. In this fascinating article from the New York Observer, character witness Houston Curtis speaks for the first time in detail about Maguire, Bloom and some of the inner workings of the nosebleed home game.

It’s a great read and while Maguire is supposedly “destroyed” in the book…some of these just stories sound like Spidey’s a hustler, baby.

For excepts and highlights…click the jump button.

According to Curtis and Bloom, not only is Tobey a good poker player as far as actors go…he has the skill to legitimately compete for bracelets.

As for Mr. Maguire, he’s in a different league from other actors who can play some cards. While often mentioned in the same breath with other excellent playing actors like Jennifer Tilly and Ben Affleck, according to one of the sources, Mr. Maguire plays at a level that far surpasses “good for an actor” and approaches the elite level of the players who win bracelets at the World Series.

Tobey attracted major whales by paying for some of his high profile Hollywood chums to sit at the table.

Tobey got Molly to concoct these games using friends like Leo DiCaprio to sit at the table. Tobey was basically paying their entry fee, and using Leo as a lure to get these billionaires like Alec Gores and Andy Beal to come to the games.

Tobey even bought up the debt of the aforementioned Houston Curtis and then struck a staking deal which had him earning 50% of the profit and assuming none of the losses.

It’s very simple what happened. There was one bad night at the tables. We were playing poker and I got buried in a game and the games played big. That night I lost a million dollars. I met with Tobey about it and scratched out a deal that allowed me to keep playing. He didn’t pay the full million; he put up 600,000 of it. I would pay him 50% of my wins until he was paid back and then he’d also get 50% of my wins for a year after. He knew that long-term I was gonna win in that game cuz that’s what him and I did in that game – we won.

You gotta take the time to read the full article, you won’t be disappointed.

Read: A Player Speaks; Molly Bloom Takes On Spider-Man Actor in New Book

Lily Killeto has found success in the past year and a half on the World Poker Tour circuit, nabbing two 6-figure scores and a pair of final tables in the process. Now the swimsuit model turned poker pro is the latest hype candidate for the World Poker Tour.

If you’ve got 33 seconds, get to know a little more about Killeto.

From the floor of the UKIPT 2014 Nottingham stop, PokerStars' razor sharp Nick Wealthall captures a few moments in time with Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree to talk about the ongoing festival, their mutual jealousy over Vicky Coren's EPT Sanremo victory and why SCOOP is such an amazeballs online tournament series.

Liv Your Life: Liv Boeree Does A Lot Of Weird Shit

In less than 20 days the Rio in Las Vegas will be home to non-stop, 24-hour poker madness in the form of the World Series of Poker. While high rollers and grinders galore will be #BraceletHunting all summer long, for those on a more limited bankroll, the Daily Deepstacks at the Rio provide some of the best value of the year.

With three starting times (3pm, 6pm and 10pm) and a range of buy-in ($235, $185 and $135) there’s something for everyone. Last year, some of the $235 tournaments offered a first place prize upwards of $50k, with the average first place prize being right around $44k. That’s something you gotta get in on!

Just remember if you plan on playing that traditionally, these have been re-entry events and on the big days, like Friday, the lines to register can be long – so plan ahead. Also, when there is a massive bracelet event, the Deepstacks are the first to get moved around. It’s rare but it does happen.

Want more info? Check out the Daily Deepstacks Tournament Structure

Also, Two Plus Two user wangtangkiki breaks down the 2013 prize pools to see which day is best and when the largest prizepools for each buy-in are.

You always hear about these online players that can be profitable grinding a ton of tables at the same time. Ever wonder that that pace looks like? Check out this short video that came across our feed of Katie 'hotjenny314’ Dozier mopping up 40 tables at the same time.

Navy Rear Admiral Timothy Giardina was slapped with two counts of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman” for a mini-scandal that involved the one-time seaman using a trio of fake chips at the Horseshoe Casino in Iowa.

According to Omaha.com, Giardina, who was playing a little poker at the Council Bluffs Horseshoe on June 16 of last year, went to the bathroom where he said he found 3 chips, a money clip and some vouchers.

Instead of handing them in, the officer, told a floorman that he found property (he didn’t say what) and that if anyone came forward, he’d give it to them. No one did and so Giardina tried to spend the three $500 chips. The problems really appeared when it turned out that rather than being three legitimate $500 chips, they actually were three $1 chips doctored to look like $500s.

It didn’t take long before they were traced back to Giardina.

When questioned back in June, Giardina allegedly lied to try and cover it up and said he purchased those chips from someone in the restroom. He later recanted and the admiral admitted he made that part up.

“I was not forthright in my response about how I came into possession of the chips in question”

Once NCIS, got a hold of the case Giardina’s clearance was suspended and, now almost a year later, he received an official “punitive letter of reprimand”, a $4k fine and after a 35 years Giardina is looking at the end of his career.

The brass over at Ultimate Poker, one of Nevada’s regulated online poker sites, is doubling down on promotion. In addition to an upcoming #RunItUp event with popular pro Jason Somerville, the team has launched a new web series to both promote the site and it’s brand ambassadors.

“ME vs.U“ promotes a little good-natured competition between Dan O’ Brien and Danielle Andersen in a few events of office olympics.

Office chair racing, boardroom shuffleboard and waste-basketball are the events and the winner must be served a picnic lunch by the loser.

It’s fun, it’s fast, looks good and could lead to some pretty entertaining episodes if all goes well. So check it out, episode one of “Me vs U.”

Here’s one for the WTF files.

Embattled former Full Tilt frontman and all-around unwelcome poker heel Howard Lederer was reportedly seen partying in the VIP section of the Jane’s Addiction concert last night at Las Vegas’ Brooklyn Bowl where the band played their album Nothing’s Shocking in full.

Steve TT McLoughlin, former Two Plus Two bigwig and current Marketing Manager for industry-standard online poker HUD PokerTracker reportedly spotted the Hodor of Poker in the rowdy Jane’s Addiction crowd (in the roped off section).

Sure, it could be a joke, it could be mistake (so take this as a rumor) but it’s unlikely as McLoughin is a longtime Las Vegas resident, an industry insider and like the rest of the poker public is pretty pissed about the Full Tilt fiasco. The dude knows who Howard Lederer is.

To further back his claims, known Howie associate, professional cowboy hat wearer (and poker player) Andy Bloch was there for sure and he even snapped a photo of guitarist Dave Navarro from the VIP section.

Perhaps it’s understandable though that Howie is out on the town in Las Vegas, he’s probably having a hard time being at home with his vast $9million estate being put up on the market.

Looking to see what it’s going to be like when the People’s Champ, Phil Ivey, puts his lawsuits aside and dons the headphones to make a video over at the new online training site that bears his name? Now you can.

You can check out his first crack when he sits down with poker coach Apotheosis for a little $5/10 NL cash game. Interested? Go watch the first 2-minutes of Decision-Making Factors at the Ivey League.

Last week, we reported about online poker sicko Marcelo “Urubu111” Freire who started his massive 45 day, 500k hand prop bet risking $30k at 2:1. Yesterday, Freire made waves 9 days after the challenge started by trying to buy out of the challenge for 30%.

Read: Prop Bet Madness – Online Sicko 'Urubu111’ Books $30k For 500,000 Hands

He posted on Two Plus Two that he’d had enough.

after 9days, tons of hands, the last thing i want do is think about poker…

i just want have my life back and dont wake up having to play 10k hands eveyr ****ing day.

Despite it being early in the challenge and “Urubu111” still being ahead of pace on hands but running extremely bad, it seemed as if the pressure was getting to him.

by the way, im surprised how hard is this stuff… i thought it was easy money, when people start betting big i was like ''omg donation for me !!! '’. i called busted friends saying then to sell their cars and bet like $10k usd on me, that for sure in 40day they double up their money.

glad they didnt trust me lol.

With the encouragement of the railbirds begging Freire to not give up and his opposition not taking the bait at 30%, the PLO challenge was destined to continue on. In fact, “Urubu111” actually looked to book extra action once he got his second wind…prompting some to think he might have been playing possum.

Such an emotional swing has many people wondering just who Marcelo Freire is. In his own words:

I’m the guy who wake up playing plo 2/4, flip 10k during lunch and go sleep grinding 0.10/0.25

Read: PROP BET: 500k hands in 45days at midstakes [Two Plus Two thread]

MSNBC host Chris Hayes talks all things online gaming and the payola politics of Sheldon Adelson on his show All In. Not many people are buying Adelson’s “for the kids!” war cry and realize that he’s buying up politicians in an effort to save his own vast fortune. Here they discuss whether Adelson’s efforts are paying dividens.

Political junkie? Want more? Check out the video below and the latest article on Adelson from The Washington Post.

It was just over one year ago that Ultimate Poker became the first regulated online poker site, not just in Nevada, but in the United States. Here, Ultimate Gaming founder Tom Breitling talks about the trials and tribulations of bring online poker back to the US and declaring victory through regulation.

With everyone watching, Breitling discusses the honor and privilege of bring the first in the state to offer online gaming, but also the massive responsibility that came along with it. Today, they happily put “the lost decade” of unregulated poker behind them and finally legitimize the world of online poker.

Carter Gill to David Diaz, Chan Pelton to Sam Panzica every year it seems someone finds themselves facing the consequences of actions they probably wish they hadn’t taken.

They’ve been banned from the World Series of Poker.

For most players, this isn’t an issue but after we ran a post about 3-time WSOP Circuit Champ Sam Panzica being denied a reprieve from a ban he received last November, we reached out to the WSOP’s Seth Palansky to talk about the banning of players and what can possibly be done about it.

Seth opened up for us about “incidents at casinos” and how they are handled as, believe it or not, no one wants to be wielding the banhammer.

“Of course, every case is unique and weighed individually,” Seth told F5 “The World Series of Poker has no input or involvement in the decision-making of [incidents at the Rio]. As in any incident occurring on casino property, the issue is elevated to the security department, risk management department, legal department and in some cases, local, state or federal law enforcement officials.”

“Unfortunately our fondness for a player, his or her history of proper conduct in our events, etc., have no bearing on getting someone reinstated. It’s an important message for players to understand. If your conduct results in security staff involvement, you face the real possibility, if you are the perpetrator, not the victim, of losing the ability to walk inside our casinos and there isn’t anyone at the WSOP who can help you get out of the mess.“

On disciplinary action, Palansky also stressed that punishment isn’t something that is negotiable. This is in no small part due to the litigious nature of people when they think they can make a quick buck of the cash friendly casinos.

“If your actions warrant discipline, prepare to be punished I’m afraid. And yes, typically the punishment is severe, because casinos are private property and are often targets of the legal system. Victims tend to go after the presumed deep pockets of the casino and attempt to hold them liable for an individual patron’s actions. Thus, with potential legal filings in cases often taking a while to be cleared up, casinos err on the side of caution and keep individuals out who have been involved in incidents until such time they deem sufficient, which sometimes is never depending on the severity or the legal process.”

On why a punishment can affect a player, Seth tells us why it’s not just at the Rio but on all their properties.

“Our parent company, Caesars Entertainment always extends these bans to all our properties, in order to remain consistent and again err on the side of caution. So players should also be aware that their conduct, whether it happens at the WSOP or not, can impact their ability to play at the WSOP in the future.”

Is there any hope for players who have put themselves in the position to be banned?

“There is an appeals process – but after a certain point in time – and the appropriate departments who oversee the case review it and take feedback from the perpetrator to determine if the ban should be lifted. Typically though, it is very hard to remove a ban if there is outstanding litigation or if the potential trouble involves harming employees. Time from incident and no other reported incidents elsewhere usually result in reinstatement at some point. We have had players reinstated and it does happen, but our advice is still to avoid incidents in casinos, especially if you make your living playing in them.”

Finally, even though the WSOP and its employees may like a player, there’s not much they can do.

“We at the WSOP do sympathize with the plight of individuals in some of these cases. We typically know and like the individual and haven’t seen a pattern of behavior that would concern us. But one poor decision takes the matter out of our hands and in the hands of people who weigh the risk of an individual versus the risks to the company and its guests, and that is tough hand to outdraw most of the time.”

Read More: How To Resurrect Your Dead Poker Career Part 2 – So You’re Banned

Young poker wizard Ole Schemion has seemingly had nothing but success since he hit the scene at age 18. The newly crowned EPT Player of the Year already has over $5million in lifetime earnings. That’s since April of 2011. He just turned 21.

The PokerStars nabs the now legal sleeveless one for a sentimental piano tinged profile which shows off the softer side of the on-the-felt aggro German superstar. Even though the media is all over him, he’s getting recognized in the streets and the titles keep piling up, but for Ole, he just wants to play poker because he loves the game.

Three-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Sam Panzica may be one of the only guys not looking forward to the upcoming 2014 World Series of Poker at the Rio. You see, the young grinder has been banned and he just found out, upon appeal (as you can see), that it’s not going to be lifted.

The details of what happened are a little sketchy for us, but from what we gather it happened during Panzica’s buddy, 2013 WSOP Main Event Champion Ryan Riess’, run during the November Nine.

People are hinting around what might have happened but not shockingly, it sounds like he’s going to blame it on the alcohol.

But everyone makes mistakes right? So, some of his high profile poker buddies, like Riess and Loni Harwood, sent messages of support upon hearing that Panzica will likely miss the best 6 weeks on the poker calendar.

Hilariously though, not everyone was jumping on the #FreePanzica movement as WPT Champion Matt Salsberg opted for the needle.

Suggest Reading: How To Resurrect Your Dead Poker Career Part 2 – So You’re Banned

We’re still looking for exactly what happened…so if you know, for sure, drop us a line and we’ll update this post.

“Thank you, again, for your interest in pursuing this matter.” Ouch.

It’s another episode of the properly produced highlight reel of EPT 10’s London stop. With hole cards, commentary and massive star power, the tournament speed tword the bursting bubble as some of UK’s favorite players try to hold on and make some money.

Miss the last episode? We’ve got you: PokerStars EPT 10 London Main Event – Episode 3

There’s no doubt about it, with the expansion of online poker in New Jersey and the Borgata kicking things into high gear with BorgataPoker.com – the massive East Coast card room is beginning to take their poker game to the next level.

The Borgata seasonal series are becoming destination series for East Coast (and beyond) players and now the Borgata wants to take their coverage of their upcoming Borgata Summer Open to the next level with new expanded coverage.

So, if you are a poker journalist, content creator, “hipster blogger” or just a writer interested into getting into poker then check out this posting over at PocketFives …or you can read it after the jump.

Borgata is seeking freelance writers for live coverage / blogging services during the Summer Poker Open, June 10 – 27 at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. Those interested should have extensive poker knowledge and availability for the duration of the event. Deliverables include: using Wordpress or similar blogging site for live reporting of every event and daily recap articles. Live reporting consists of, but is not limited to play by play action, chip count updates, player standings, interviews, player images and payouts. For more information or to submit a proposal please contact [email protected]

Last week, the Golden Nugget AC poker room paid out $50,545 in their first ever Bad Beat Jackpot to a crew of old school grinders. The rugged lot were sitting at a 2-4-6 Limit Hold’em game, when according to comments on the Golden Nugget Facebook page (so take it with the appropriate grains of salt) a Royal Flush took out Quad Jacks for the win.

The Golden Nugget’s BBJ is relatively new for them, implemented in January of this year and finally hit in the last week of April. They paid out 50% to the loser of the hand, 25% to the winner and then the rest of the table chopped the remaining 25%. The reset button on the jackpot was hit and currently sits at around $15k.

Sure this gang looks like a pack of boardwalk mobsters but according to the GN – “They were the nicest group of guys!”

We noticed a couple of updates on some posts we shared with you earlier this year we thought you might be interested in keeping up to date with them. Check out the latest on the “ponzi schemer” and the new parent.

First up…remember the tale of Nigel “The Guru” Goldman? He’s the poker playing ponzi schemer who bolted with roughly €3million Euro and no one could find him. Well, they found him in a small town, trying to reinvent himself and living a pretty modest life…of course, the cops are interested in this information too. If you are interested, check this out…

Read: Playboy who was on the run for allegedly stealing £2.5m from investors in Marbella discovered living in sleepy Berkshire village after newspaper tracks him down on eBay

Miss the original post? No problem: Nigel 'The Guru’ Goldman — Ponzi Scheme 'Poker Champ’

Another story we wanted to update you on was that of Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody who was more than a little freaked out about becoming a father in a few weeks time. Well, that time has come and Jake is three weeks or more into parenthood and from the looks of it, he’s enjoying every second of it. Catch up with J. Cody and his new bundle of joy Arianna as the professional poker player adjusts to the new role of “Dad.”

Read: Baby steps

Miss the first part? We’ve got you covered yet again: Jake Cody Not 'Going Down There’ When His Baby Is Born

Professional Las Vegas poker player and one of the sickest online grinders of all time, Shaun 'F—-ing’ Deeb, is all smiles this week as the one-time young Waffle Crushing prankster is now, officially, a father.

Congratulations to Shaun, and of course his wife, as they welcome their first born…so it looks like Shaun will be off the gambling grid for some…wait, what’s that??

If you didn’t know already, Deeb has an unquenchable thirst for Open Face Chinese poker…but hey, everyone is happy, healthy and the poker community, where Shaun is pretty much adored, poured out messages of congratulations for him.

Still expect to see Shaun Deeb at the tables this summer during the WSOP, perhaps with a few hours less sleep under his belt. Congrats again to Shaun “Father” Deeb!

When it comes to out of the box promotional ideas, the Motherly-minded folks at the (relatively – pun intented!) new BorgataPoker.com have an idea of how you can get your poker fix while not forgetting about mom. New Jersey residents, check out the Mother’s Day Giveaway. From the looks of it, it’s a super simple giveaway: log-in to your account, opt in and go to the promotions tab to register for the give away.

Next thing you know, there’s a random drawing and you and your momma could be headed to Borgata for a Spa day, dinner and probably, let’s face it, some poker.

You gotta be eligible to play on BorgataPoker.com and that’s about it. So, get on it, there’s only a couple days left and if you are in NJ and have yet to sign up, they do stuff like give you massive clearable welcome bonuses, $1k Daily Freerolls, and more.

Hurray mom!

Everyone likes a good “local boys made good” story. Here’s a quick write up of a couple poker success stories hailing from the small town of Tyler, Texas. With a population of just around 100,000 Tyler, Texas has produced a couple of feel good felt stories that are worth checking out in the latest issue of their local news magazine, In Magazine.

Meet Tyler Morris, 28, a recent World Series of Poker Circuit Champ.

Poker at a high-stakes level involves an exceptional amount of skill, including reading opponents, calculating odds and trying not to make missteps.

“When you get down to these further stages in the tournament, every decision becomes so much more crucial,” he says. “As time rolls on in a tournament, the stakes get higher and you need to make timely decisions and very few, if any, mistakes.”

Meet Chris Bowen, 54, an late blooming poker player and another WSOP Circuit Champ.

“The thing I like best about these poker tournaments is (that) it’s a sport where amateurs can compete with the pros and even though it’s not an even playing field, you still have an opportunity to have success. I can’t think of another sport where that could happen.”

Both will likely be competing for the WSOP National Championship which takes place May 22-24 at the new Bally’s Atlantic City WSOP themed poker room.

Read: Poker Sharks

Yet another cautionary tale about keeping your mind on your money and your money on your mind.

From the poker crime logs comes the tale of John Baca, 54, arrested by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s department for allegedly trying to steal poker chips from unsuspecting victims…right off the table.

Baca, who was trolling the Buffalo Thunder Resort poker room – which is a nice looking room by the way – may or may not have taken anything, but what he did do was lie to the cops telling them his names was Michael Sanchez.

According to Albuquerque Journal, Baca, despite his lie, was recognized by security for a previous trespass and he was snap booked on “criminal trespass and concealing identity charges.”

Turns out the guy who they thought was the victim actually left, so authorities can’t be sure (yet) if Baca got away with it. But he did have a notice barring him from the property (and thus the poker room) which landed him in the slammer.

Nevada’s third online poker room—yes, there are three—may be coming out of the shadows. Real Gaming co-founder and CEO, Lawrence Vaughan has given an interview to Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Real Gaming’s launch was conducted with no marketing, and even less fanfare. “We’ve only been operating for a little more than a month and we’ve been so quiet, some people didn’t know we were out there. It’s been perfect actually, allowing us to do things like focus on customer service,” said Vaughan.

First figures from PokerScout showed average cash game traffic at 0 players. A month on, Real Gaming has at least achieved consistency, traffic remains at an average of zero.

“We want to be extremely quiet and deal with a small, but loyal, customer base and accelerate from there,” explained Vaughan.

During this “testing and soft-launch phase,” Vaughan has been hands on in getting to know his customers.

“I reached out to one of our customers, who had been playing the most hands of anyone, and he told us he was playing on an iPad from a poker room here in town.” When the highest volumes are coming from an iPad user, it’s time for the business to declare that its recreational player model strategy is working.

Real gaming is co-owned by the South Point Casino, which is owned and operated by Michael Gaughan. According to Vaughan, their visions are “aligned.”

“Right now, the numbers are not really the carrot being dangled, saying come and get this pot of gold. It is my belief it is an educational thing and the market will grow.”

A year and a half after achieving the Nevada license, Vaughan declares, “we’re just at the beginning.”

A federal appeals court upheld a judgement last Friday against notorious poker player Russell “Dutch” Boyd in a case of trademark infringement against the massive online poker community Two Plus Two.

Dutch allegedly cyber-squatted and then “acted in bad faith” to register the domain name “twoplustwopoker.com” to try to divert customers away from 2p2, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

The appeals court said Two Plus Two presented evidence it has sold more than 2 million books and has 250,000 members on its online forums.

The judgement against Boyd by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is for $25k plus an additional $33,985. Good thing Boyd has that new book done.

Fans of Jason Somerville and Ultimate Poker have a little pre-WSOP event to get excited about. Somerville, celebrating 1-year with Ultimate Poker, is hosting his first live RunItUp event at the Peppermill Reno. It’s a full slate of tournaments, cash games, hangouts and meetups for 5 days this month with other Ultimate Poker/Somerville fans.

If you are the creative type, you can win your way to Reno or just book your trip. But act fast – this is all taking place super soon with contest submissions due at the end of the week and the event starting next Wednesday.

More #RunItUp: Dan O’ Brien Kicks Off His Sunday Shoes

Remember a while ago when Poker Hall of Famer Dewey Tomko (supposedly) co-authored that op-ed for the Press of Atlantic City basically condemning online poker? Tomko took a TON of heat for it on Two Plus Two and in the poker media in general…which might have been warranted…if Tomko actually co-authored it!

Turns out, according to a new blog post from Poker Night In America's creative director (and personal friend of Dewey Tomko) Nolan Dalla, Tomko had NOTHING to do with it.

While Tomko knows (now supposed) co-author Bill Byers, according to a phone conversation Dalla had with the bracelet winner, it’s been a while since he’s heard from Byers.

Sure, I know Bill Byers. But I haven’t talked to him in ten years.

In fact, Dalla says that Tomko not only hasn’t talked to Byers in years but has NO IDEA about the article and, in fact, is actually a supporter of online poker, despite not ever having played it.

I have no association whatsoever to anything to do with that. I don’t play online poker. I’ve never played online poker before. Not even once. I don’t know anything about it. Why would I say something on something I know nothing about? I don’t do that.

The Press of Atlantic City ran the op-ed, likely, under the assumption that Tomko’s affiliation was genuine and, of course, we and other media outlets had no reason to question the authenticity of the Press of Atlantic City op-ed. Well, **** us.

Good thing Nolan Dalla has a personal relationship with Tomko and could get to the bottom of it. Six weeks after the op-ed was published Dalla called Dewey for an extensive conversation about the piece. Dewey claims to not know anything about it.

I have no idea what you’re talking about. You know me. I don’t write columns to newspapers. I’ve got other things that keep me plenty busy.

So here’s the summary as Dalla states it:

First, Tomko didn’t write the editorial. Second, he knows nothing about it. Third, he hasn’t lent his name to any cause associated with any findings about online poker.

To be fair, while Dalla, a longtime trusted industry staple and a historian of the game, talked to Tomko, and obviously very much believes that Tomko had absolutely nothing to do with this, there are still, perhaps, scenarios that exist making this very unclear as to exactly what happened.

Perhaps Press of Atlantic City was just plain duped, in which case we all were, or perhaps it’s Dalla that doesn’t have all the information. The answer, of course, may lie somewhere in between.

When we called and talked to Editorial Page Editor Jim Perskie at the Press of Atlantic City he indicated that an email of verification was sent back to both parties and that, via a Google search, they were who they said they were. Upon further pressing of how this op-ed came to be, we were stopped with: “I’ve got nothing for you.”

Perskie also indicated that we were (as of 1:40pm EST) the only people on the planet to ask him about this as of yet. We don’t think we’ll be the last.

So, while it looks like Tomko was attached as a co-author without his permission – we just don’t know.

Of course, this story holds nowhere near the same severity as the Ultimate Bet scandal, but it wasn’t that long ago that one of the most trusted names in the game, Barry Greenstein talked face to face with Russ Hamilton and told the world he was convinced that Hamilton had nothing to do with the superuser scandal.

Let’s hope though that we’re not entering a time when we need to double check every article published to make sure that the person attributed in the by-line was in fact the person that authored the article. If so, Steve Ruddock is going to have a pretty hefty cell phone bill.

We’re going to let the final word (for now) go to Dalla himself who states it pretty clearly.

Someone is lying. Someone is making things up. Someone needs to be exposed as soon as possible and all those who have used any evidence or testimony from the such an individual should be dismissed immediately as sources who are not credible.

All of that said, if you followed this story, you need to read Nolan Dalla’s post about his conversation with Dewey Tomko.

Read: Who’s the Impostor Behind the Dewey Tomko Hoax?

Everyone’s favorite bigmouth Tony G has the heart and commitment to make any move at any time. Here we watch a pretty bland hand he gets into with decorated German high-rolling young gun Philipp Gruissem where he applies the right amount of pressure with not that much of a hand.

In the end, as Tony unloads a number of his classic lines explaining why he plays the way he plays, World Poker Tour Alpha8 commentator Olivier Busquet verbally backhands Tony implying that in the long run, these types of play make him the prey rather than a chip stacking predator.

More, More, More: Tony G Adds Another Clip To His Verbal Highlight Reel

Former Novermber Niner and 888poker pro Jesse Sylvia is looking to put some of that 2012 WSOP Runner-up money to work this summer. The MTV reality star recently announced that he’s looking to buy pieces in other people’s World Series packages.

Are you qualified? Get in touch with Mr. Jesse James Sylvia via his Twitter account.

This comes on the heels of “Mad” Marvin Rettenmaier posting to his Facebook that he, too, is looking for similar value as a backer. You would think that there’s no shortage of degens…err..people looking to be staked but guys like Sylvia and Rettenmaier are looking for the perfect type of grinder. Players who have both skill and results and at the same time are lacking in the bankroll department.

Read: WSOP 2014 – Go Grind On Marvin Rettenmaier’s Dime

What’s backing? There are no dumb questions here! Check out this recent article from the Wall Street Journal that talks about the big business of backing.

Watch as the World Poker Tour's Vince Van Patten attempts to withstand the wind power of a jumbo jet while on the beach in the Caribbean.

There’s more flopping going on in this promo video than in a NBA game. Notice how both the girl in the bikini and the 6-year old next to her barely move while V.V.P tumbles 4 ya all the way into the ocean.

Watch More V.V.P: WPT’s Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten: Rise and Shine it’s Workout Time

This video isn’t much in the way of extra info or anything, but it’s a nice reminder that the longer you wait to make your plan the more expensive your hotel and flight will be! So get on it – the World Series of Poker is a mere 23 days away.

Bonus: Looking for a fun hype video, this is our favorite (and it’s maybe the 112th time we’ve posted it) and always worth a good look.

Our own @pkrgssp showed this off a while back, but since it’s Star Wars Day (May the 4th for those not in the know) we thought it’d make for a fun post. Happy grinding!

While Season 10 of the EPT may be over and EPTLive on a break, you can still get your fix of Hartigan and Stapes through the PokerStars EPT televised broadcast. It’s Day 2 of EPT London and the guy you love (or love to hate) Phil Hellmuth plays table captain at the featured table.

Plus, this is the episode that Devilfish went on a curmudgeonly twitter rant about. Enjoy!