Instapoker

Seriously, totally sorry about the mess. Wasn\’t expecting anyone over … um, make yourself at home … can I get you anything to drink? We\’ve got water … and beer:

A player who may or may not have been FREDDIE DEEB just took part in what is apparently the largest online pot in history — a $200/$400 NL hand that resulted in more than $400k going in the middle on PRIMAPOKER.

The 2006 WSOP main event field has NOT been capped at 8,000 players.

A charity tourney in OHIO got canceled — not because of legal issues, but because of rain.

In PENNSYLVANIA (which has had its share of poker legal problems), TIM MCGRAW has added a hold\’em tourney to his big annual findraising gala. BOB COSTAS will be hosting the event.

They\’ve got quite the interesting little fight going on over charity poker in, of all places, CALIFORNIA. For-profit card rooms aren\’t making it easy to give a piece of the rake to a good cause.

With big fights in Congress brewing, HOWARD LEDERER joins the POKER PLAYERS ALLIANCE board of directors.

The LA TIMES publishes a tough editorial to counter the GOODLATTE BILL.

Meanwhile, CARDPLAYER wants you to write your congressman. Do you get the sense that poker is about to reach a CRITICAL MASS?

MANSION POKER, the folks behind PokerDome, finds itself engaged in some sort of scrum with FULL TILT. The article doesn\’t say anything about whether or not PERRY FRIEDMAN might defect to \”speed poker\”

Here\’s an interesting interview with JEFFREY POLLACK, commissioner of the WSOP, on where the tournament — and thus the future of poker — is headed.

It\’s kinda funny that he talks about WIMBLEDON, because in Europe poker seems to be about a year behind us.

Which is good for poker, because it\’s always fun to see non-poker people getting into the game.

Likewise for the poker blogosphere, which has now spread to SPAIN.

Just in time, too, because in ENGLAND they now have KNIGHTS in PARLIAMENT switching careers to become poker pros.