Just got back on the grid and playing electronic catch-up … here are some of the things that are making good browser viewing, but not quite stimulating a full-fledged post:

Jay Busbee (from Bluff) has a good State of the Poker Union address on ESPN.com, where he officially declares the poker boom dead. Also interesting to see ESPN, for the first time I remember in a long-long while, running (non-affiliate) PokerStars ads. [ESPN.com]

Poker Shrink Cranky Olde Coot has a good post wondering why FIDPA still hasn’t made the “new rules” they’ve long ballyhooed public. [PokerBlog.com]

Full Disclosure: FIDPA is one of my MySpace friends. [MySpace.com]

Liberal columnist Michael Kinsley shares a story about John McCain going on some extremely unpresidential tilt at the craps table. (The TJ Cloutier of Politics? Tons of success, a sometimes dangerous love of craps, and never quite able to win the Big One?) [The Daily Beast, via Huffington Post, via Short-Stacked Shamus]

Beyond the Table has a new home online. [Podcast.com]

I think Dr. Pauly’s starting to get a little miffed at me for not working out some production kinks and posting our re-constituted incarnation of Tao of Pokerati, but I think I can make him feel better by simply reading his blog. [Tao of Poker]

With all the talk of what really goes into a world-record endurance poker session, I forgot to send y’all to live-forum coverage of The Poker Den 3 — PartyPoker’s 36-hour high-stakes televised cash game. [MatchroomPoker.com]

Dutch Boyd apparently bought Steve Hall’s Pokerfolio in a semi-hostile takeover. Poor Steve … but he has found a new home for his poker updates/pictures of attractive Asian female dealers. [Pokerfolio.Spruz.com]

Also, the X-10 electronic table — a knock-off of the PokerTek PokerPro popping up in so many places — sharing the same name as a hidden camera used by so many pervy peeping toms before a few lawsuits encouraged them to re-market themselves as a security device. [SlipperyBrick.com]

And long overdue, here’s a great tale of a totally degenerate poker blogger/gambler rescuing his bankroll by poetically chasing/hitting the Station Casinos bad-beat jackpot. [TheTrooper97, via Up for Poker]

There’s more, too, coagulating in my bookmarks and inbox. News stories, forum threads, tourney results … Who knows … maybe I’ll get to them for your reading pleasure, but as is always the case from Head Slacker at this Little-Ole Poker Blog, no promises. It’s good to be back with you all.

LATE ADDITIONS:

Lacey Jones is getting ready for her co-hosting duties of Real Deal, the pokery interactive musical at The Venetian, which kicks off next week. [PokerListings.com via LasVegasAdvisor.com]

She also hosted an interesting event at Cathouse (as simply Lacey J) where women showed up for a seductive-attire contest where the winner got a boob job. [Photobucket.com]

Meanwhile, there was a hardcore SWAT-team poker raid in Fayetteville, NC. A firsthand account as well as some non-poker media coverage here and here. [Triangle Poker Journal]

Some various news stories while wondering what Darus Suharto’s doing right now…

Congrats to John Phan, who took down the WPT Legends of Poker main event at the Bike. That makes 2 WSOP bracelets and 2 WPT final tables since mid-June for the Razor.

The debacle at the $50,000 HORSE event appears to have affected the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge at the Cherokee Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The page dedicated to the event appears to have changed a bit in the past week:

August 23rd version from Google’s cache

The same page on August 30.

An interview with Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, on Lou Krieger’s Keep Flopping Aces podcast says to expect new rules regarding player behavior to be instituted in time possibly for the WSOP Circuit events in October.

Strangely enough, the current rules in place were able to disqualify a player who was misbehaving at the final table, even though said player had the chip lead.

The five remaining defendants from an arrest (and SWAT team raid) on a South Carolina home for playing poker back in April 2006 are still trying to get a trial, which may be over a year away.

The Asian Poker Tour drew a field of about 250 for their latest stop, Macau. They had two day 1’s to whittle down the field to 67 remaining. Notable names remaining: JJ Liu, Casey Kastle, and Mel Judah. Play starts again at midnight Eastern time, with updates available on the APT site and Pokernews.

Circle your calendars for Oct. 14, when the Real Deal poker game show (with host Paul Rodriguez) at the Venetian makes its debut. Tickets start at only $75, but audience members will be able to walk away with valuable prizes (imagine how hard it is to walk away with a plasma TV).

More exciting stuff later, maybe…

Here’s more info on the raid of the “40 Deuce” club in Hurst. It was indeed another undercover narcotics investigation followed by a paramilitary SWAT-team incursion:

Hurst police said they found two dozen people inside the home, which had tables, dealers and even a banker, and was set up to look like Las Vegas.

You know, Pokerati used to defend the police for just doing their jobs, and reminding poker players of that. But c’mon … SWAT teams? That’s so 2006. When you want to shut down a game next time … here’s a hint … try just knocking on the door(s). I know I know … I’m just a blogger and don’t understand police operations — so maybe you can explain to me how, using knowledge gained from your undercover, a knock on the door combined with a marked squad car in the driveway wouldn’t stop any poker crimes from being committed.

In fact, I’ll even give you the answer to this question: “Uh, duh, Mr. Know-it-All, because then there would be no money to confiscate for us to put toward other poker raids/the police “petty cash” fund.”

And while we’re bitchin’ about the money … yo local news media … when “dozens” of players gather with a sum total of a few thousand dollars … since you’re not going to really follow the money to look into what police are really up to with it, at least do the math and realize that this is not “high stakes.” You should be journalistically ashamed of yourselves for being so careless/sensational with your word choice.

For the rest of you, check out the comments on the Channel 5 story. At the time of this posting, they’re running 11-1 in favor of poker and against the police:

More…