Dude, how bad does this suck … Patricia Clark, a 51-year-old preacher from Chicago’s South Side, was supposedly a pretty good poker player. She went to a home game on Thursday to collect a $300 debt from “an old friend of 20 years”, according to her husband. The other players convinced her to stick around and play a bit. Four hours later, from the best we can tell from the Sun Times report of her death, she found herself involved in a four-way all-in, and took down an $800 pot.

At that point Rosie Morris, 46, got pretty pissed and accused Clark of cheating. She flat-out denied any impropriety, and demanded to be paid. Morris retreated to a bedroom, not to get her checkbook, but rather a gun. She then allegedly shot Clark in the back, and then unloaded three more rounds into her head and chest.

Clark died this weekend from her injuries, and Morris has been charged with murder.

Morris joins Joran van der Sloot and a few other poker players who have made the game at least part of their homicidal ways in recent years.

As the online gaming industry anxiously awaits the introduction of pro-gaming legislation, the mainstream media has picked up on the story – online gaming versus the NFL and Christian Coalition. And today’s newspapers are all over the story, looking at the possible revenue for the U.S. government and online gaming’s enemies. Could this mean that Rep. Barney Frank is ready to introduce the bill in the coming days?

Eric Pfanner of the New York Times writes about the chance for legal online gaming in the U.S. here.

Frederic Frommer pits poker players against the NFL in this Chicago Sun-Times article.

The pressure – and the press – is on.