Very few details … so by all means, please send them along if you have any … but Harris County Sheriff’s Deputies in Spring, TX (north of Houston), are saying an altercation at a poker game Saturday night resulted in one player pulling a gun on another and firing multiple shots until the victim was dead on a sidewalk outside the home.

Here’s the neighborhood where the latest Texas poker homicide went down:

View Larger Map

The irony of this comic does not escape me:

(This should be our new answer to anything the anti-poker morality lobby throws our way.)

Rep. Menendez has officially killed HB 222 on the floor of the Texas House, knowing that the Gov. won’t pass. He was able to spend a few minutes discussing why it should be allowed to proceed, only to be interrupted by several bad poker-related puns.

Today’s episode should be mostly about Annie Duke and Celebrity Apprentice, and the upcoming WSOP:

http://www.pokerroad.com/the_poker_beat/live/

Cherryl in Las Vegas — whose job it is to keep Las Vegas scenesters posted about what celebs are hanging where, with whom, and how — writes in with word of a couple poker players out on the town:

Phillip Ivey and Daniel Negreanu at Playboy Club

Greetings,

Professional poker players Phillip Ivey and Daniel Negreanu were at Playboy Club inside Palms Casino Resort Wednesday night ( 5.13.09). Dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts, they played blackjack for a short time and were seen drinking beer and FIJI Water.

Thanks,

Awesome … so now we know: Phillip and Fiji water.

ALT HED: Ivey, Negreanu Dating?

Semi-related to poker … was working on a post over at Soccerati (our baby brother site), about how an online gambling op (188Bet.com) has come in to buy up the jersey space on two English Premier League teams. It just seems kinda funny to me — considering that the NFL is so anti-online gambling, and the EPL is so pro. Soccer in general seems to have totally embraced the online gambling biz. Such a clear distinction between American football and European football.

In fact … check this out … you have very major teams across the pond (and a few minor ones) that have direct links and betting pages on their official sites. The Spurs, for example, are supposedly working with their sponsor Mansion to develop a Tottenham skin, and already host weekly freerolls for game tickets.

The people making money off Peyton Manning jerseys hate online poker; meanwhile the other kind of football teams proudly support it — or are being supported by it.

Now you know I’m not much of a boycotter — really, I generally think they’re stupid and ineffective — but it does occur to irk me how much “free advertising” poker players give NFL teams by wearing their jerseys. Considering that American football gives nothing back to poker, and in fact subtracts from it … maybe it might be time for poker players to hang up their lucky Tony Romo jerseys, ya know? Just sayin’ … all it takes is watching a little soccer to realize how wearing any NFL promotion at the WSOP wouldn’t be too different from wearing a Bill Frist or Jim Leach campaign button un-ironically.

The Delaware legislature passed a bill allowing sports gambling to return to the state on Tuesday. Governor, Jack Markell will be signing the legislation later this week. Delaware is one of 4 states (Oregon, Nevada and Montana being the others) that were exempt from a 1992 federal law that banned gambling on sports.

The NFL, unsurprisingly, filed a brief with the Delaware Supreme Court against the bill. Their reasoning for blocking the bill is surprising; because they state that sports betting is a game of skill, while Delaware state law states that only games of chance are allowed. Could they be unknowingly opening the door to allow all sorts of gambling on games of skill, such as poker?

With the ever expanding popularity of heads up games, many of the best spots to play in are now one on one games. Weak players seem to be attracted to these games because the variance is extremely high, which means it gives them a realistic shot at making a big score through that massive double up.

“Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.” – Nick the Greek, after playing a five month long poker match against the legendary Johnny Moss where he reputably lost close to one million dollars.

The reality is that these players will always lose over the long run, because they are not only weak in the actual game, but also because they do not adhere to adequate bankroll management standards and the variance will bust them over and over again. As a result, some of the best tables to sit at are heads up tables – you only need to encounter one or two of these players to expect a large profit over a session.

More…

Been gathering a few gems over the past week…

Lawsuits are so easy and fun. Well, ask Clonie and she might deliver a different response, but that hasn’t stopped the lawyers in other cases from filing some very poker-centric lawsuits.

Gambling Times Inc. has filed suit against Scott Lazar, executive producer of Deal, the almost-embarrassing poker movie that flopped (pun inevitable) in movie theaters in 2008. According to super reputable tabloid TMZ, Gambling Times Inc. was promised prominent product placement in the film, and for the lack of it is suing Lazar for $1 million, about ten times more than what the movie garnered in revenue.

More…

Here’s an interesting little new poker device that just might not suck! The poker controller is a vid-game-inspired joypad designed with specific online poker moves and multitabling in mind. Supposedly works with Full Tilt, PokerStars, PartyPoker, and Ladbrokes. The bet wheel seems pretty cool, and the tilt switch … well just go ahead and embed that in me now:

Each Poker Controller comes fully integrated with a pinpoint Raise-O-Meter (bet wheel), Custom Bet Buttons, Lightning Fast Table Switches, Mouse Touchpad, Fast-play Buttons to Bet, Check/Call & Fold, Table Settings & More. All designed to enable quick play at the touch of a button!

The Wireless Poker Controller can help even the most seasoned player to increase their bet speed & bet accuracy, avoid errors & play more efficiently. The Poker Controller even features an emergency ‘TILT’ switch, which can be programmed to shut you out for a cool-off period when tilt takes the better of you. Save losing $$$ from emotional and irrational play!

[via Thrillist]

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack (aka @JeffreyPollack aka DJ DaKnish aka, in this instance, “Jeff”) appeared on Bloomberg TV’s really early morning news today … little in here that we already know, but always good to see the non-poker media taking an interest in the hugeness of the WSOP.

Overall, I gotta think it’s pretty good to have the finance-minded looking at current economic numbers and at least having the thought that, ya know, maybe I should go after a gold bracelet instead of just plain gold. I still like the WSOP commercial — geared toward a more food-minded crowd — better though.

Pokerati loves voting … and arbitrary lists! To that extent, we took part in helping PokerListings choose the least-popular presidents WSOP main event champions of all time.

Cop-killer-turned-Dallas-underground-game-operator (and alleged Choctaw colluder) James McDaniel’s trial in the death of 21-year-old SMU coed Meaghan Bosch is supposed to get underway this week, but has been temporarily delayed. In an effort to put one of the more, er … colorful characters from the Dallas poker scene behind bars for life, prosecutors will make the case that underground poker in Dallas (circa 2006-07) was a breeding ground for drug crimes, rape, and ultimately … an unfortunate, untimely death.

Update from the Morning News:

Monday’s trial of the ex-con accused of causing the overdose death of Southern Methodist University student Meaghan Bosch has been postponed, the judge ordered Thursday.

James McDaniel’s defense attorney, Thomas Mills Jr., is ill, according to court documents. No new date has been set. McDaniel faces up to life in prison if convicted of charges that he supplied Bosch, 21, of McKinney, with drugs that caused her death. She was found dead May 14, 2007, in a portable toilet at a construction site near Waco. Her death followed two other fatal overdoses of SMU students, prompting criticism that the university was ignoring a severe drug problem.

Prosecutors say that McDaniel drugged and raped other female SMU students who attended his underground poker games near campus and that they plan to call some of them to testify. McDaniel also supplied students with drugs, prosecutors allege.

McDaniel, a convicted murderer and self-described professional poker player, has denied he caused Bosch’s death. He also denies selling drugs or committing sexual assaults.

Interesting article about the nationwide move (on a state, not federal level) to legalize sports betting, and other attempts at “gambling expansion” depending on where you live.

Pretty cool … our pals at Poker Road have hooked something up with the NBC Sports web peeps to get their videos airing on sports.msnbc.com. So now the rest of the world can enjoy such quality programming as “Life of Ivey”:

In this episode, I think Phil is headed to the next stop on the WPT Craps Tour (inside joke, or is that just something I didn’t know existed?) on Donald Trump’s helicopter … it’s a little hard to follow, but that’s probably the point … kinda like Lost.