Ahh, remember the good-ole-days when there were only like three stories at a time coming in on the Google News Alerts for “poker”, and only like three bloggers who had signed up for them? Me neither … it was never quite like that (but close) … and though I make no promises to keep this up on a daily basis, in an effort to inform the poker-news-hungry to the best of my abilities keep my open browser tabs to a minimum and my email backlog < 500, I will try to provide you some basic links to the plausibly worthwhile shizznit shaking down:

CardRunners and StoxPoker have joined forces to create a poker-training supersite. [PokerOnAMac.com]

Original PartyGaming honcho Anurag Dikshit — creator of some of the earliest online poker software — is one of three Indians to make Forbes’ list of 34 web-innovator billionaires … as well he should be. [MSNBC]

More on the Fed’s aggressive pursuit of Bodog — including criminal investigations on the company and Calvin Ayre. [Forbes.com]

Barney Frank has re-introduced the Payments System Protection Act, a revised version of HR 5767, which was shot down in his own committee earlier this year. [PokerNewsDaily]

Las Vegas visitation is down — to its lowest point since the start of the Iraq war. [Las Vegas Advisor]

And thus it only makes sense that LV gaming revenue is down — 14 percent this time — for the 7th consecutive month. [Forbes.com]

You know those new poker rooms popping up in Arizona? Well the Pascua Yaqui tribe doesn’t like them and is trying to get them shut down. (Funny: the mayor of Phoenix is named Phil Gordon.) [Zonie Report]

Poker parties and poker school are all the rage in Croatia. [CroatianVillas.com]

FUN RUMORS: Apparently Johnny Depp is quite the poker player, but he’s having a hard time getting alt/indie band We Were Scientists to pay up the $28k he beat them out of. (But all debts have been settled with Orlando Bloom, whom he supposedly beat out of $800k during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean.) [Online Casino Advisory]

And in hardly related non-poker news … Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter’s pregnancy … do we want to start this century off in a world where teens (sometimes) use birth control and occasionally have an abortion or one where we preach abstinence and then glorify/celebrate the shotgun wedding? The MySpace page of the potential VPson-in-law Levi Johnston: [NYPost via HuffingtonPost via Kevin Allen/Sun Times]

“I’m a fuckin’ redneck” who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes.

“But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some shit and just fuckin’ chillin’ I guess.”

“Ya fuck with me I’ll kick [your] ass,” he added.

He also claims to be “in a relationship,” but states, “I don’t want kids.”

Perhaps we all have something to learn from a billion (Non-American) Indians. Not only did “these people” give us one of the founders of PartyPoker and hundreds if not thousands of terrible customer service reps, but also they made what is arguably the best condom commercial ever:

It certainly seems that way … either that or they’re just going through some rocky times that the tough-do-it-my-way billionaire who built the company didn’t want to be part of. [Gambling911]

Reading this story makes a couple things “obvious” to me:

1. The US.gov is serious about the illegality of sports wagering online, as it really is the only thing clear in previous legislation.

2. Online poker sites that accept US players are having a hard time getting new players, because the American market is tapped out, and if you were a newly addicted European, why would you choose any site that runs into potential trouble from US.gov when you can play on super-legit home-continenters such as PartyPoker, Ladbrokes, 888, etc.? The exception to this, of course, are PokerStars (because they’re so damn big and have all the champions) and Full Tilt (because they have all the pros).

3. Pete Sessions’ HR 6663 really is a sensible piece of legislation in that it makes everything clear (even though it may not cow-tow to a few special-special interests): it spells out more clearly than anything else — sports betting on the internet is bad, online poker is fine, and other games need to be decided.

You’re in luck as Bodog has announced an open casting call for the sexy reality show “Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker II.” Twelve lucky individuals will be selected to compete on and off the felt for a cash prize of $1 million and a $1 million Bodog contract.

Hmmmm, this sounds like a pretty good deal if you like money, fame, poker sponsorships and want to live in a mansion for a month.

The open casting call will be held during the WSOP at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino running from July 5 – 8 on the fabulous Las Vegas Strip.

Hurry and act fast as Pokerati Dan has serious designs on this competition.

Trying to clean up the place for a few new bloggers has left so much poker news passing us by. So in no particular order of importance, you might be curious to know:

CHARLES BARKLEY had a good weekend in Las Vegas, pocketing $700k on mostly blackjack. No word on where he played or how much he was betting per hand.

The first WSOP poker-bloggy marriage is set to go down, between the “all over the place!” JEN LEO and Stone Temple Pilots roadie-cum-PokerNews editor JOHN CALDWELL. Word spread via AMY C … should make for a festive Day 1B of the WSOP main event.

JAMIE GOLD has settled his case with CRISPIN LEYSER — no more lawsuit for the $6 mil … they’re gonna chop the pot instead. We’ll try to find out for how much, but clearly neither was going to win at this point, and any two SEMI-SERIOUS poker players can see the folly of letting LAWYERS take such a high rake in a heads-up match.

There’s an interesting tournament going on at THE BIKE … the $10,000 Poker Netcast HEADS-UP CHALLENGE. GAVIN SMITH sucked out hard on CLONIE (J7 vs AJ — 7 on the turn, 7 on the river) to knock her out.

Hey, check it out … a new generation of NEGREANU FANS are being bred educated at CANADIAN universities.

Despite CALVIN AYRE’s semi-fugitive status in the US, the COSTA RICAN billionaire is fixin’ to bring BODOG to AMERICAN TV starting next week.

By the way, what does the United States National SOCCER TEAM love to do while traveling? They play poker. (Or shall we say Pele poker?)

A PENNSYLVANIA JURY decides it’s not right to bust out of a poker game and return to shoot people. Duly noted.

THE WSOP CIRCUIT main event is underway in COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA. Pokerati finds it interesting that the WSOP in (what is essentially) OMAHA has no Omaha.

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You’ve heard it here before (and will hear it again) … 2007 is all about RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING. Some worldwide initiatives are taking shape, though the US, of course, has opted to have no say in the matter.

Note to self: WIN MORE. Lose less.

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An interesting outline for HOW TO TAX online gambling from our good friends in HUNGARY. Summation: Take 30 percent.

Not surprisingly, LAWYERS with expertise in gambling are a hot commodity these days.

And anti-online gambling laws aren’t stopping Americans from trying to gamble online. Just ask SCANSAFE, a company that blocks employees of other companies from pissing off online while at work. (Looking at Karridy.)

COLLEGE KIDS at SYRACUSE are saying the same thing … they can’t be stopped!

But here’s a good article that looks into the hard-number connections between online gambling and TERRORISM.

The LA TIMES has a good op-ed on the ridiculousness of preventing wagers on the SUPER BOWL — more than $5 BILLION slipped through unchecked hands untaxed, experts say.

And here’s a quick little item that shows how/why US ATTORNEYS are trying to draw a connection between online betting and Al Qaeda-suited.

That should be enough for now. But as always, there’s more TK.

Oh, wait, almost forgot … Starting tomorrow, you are supposed to BOYCOTT online poker through SUNDAY. Oh, wait, no you’re not.