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AceHigh_Pino at PokerOwnage was at it again over the weekend with his almost first out of the gates news breaking story regarding ePassporte and follow-ups.

ePassporte, a global processor of online finances, ceases being a deposit option at online poker rooms in the US. The company used to allow instant transfers of money from checking accounts, credit and debit cards but they are following in NETeller’s place in “closing its doors” to the US.

For more in-depth detail, please see the following links at PokerOwnage:

ePassporte Shutting Down to U.S. Online Poker Players?

Poker Rumor Confirmed: ePassporte Is Shutting Down To U.S. Poker Players.

Michael J. Garcia: Online Poker Player Enemy #1 - Again.

Poker Echecks are quickly picking up the pieces and getting the word out there about their services. Not all are utilizing PokerEchecks, but two prominent online poker rooms do, FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com.

The cool thing about Poker Echecks is they don’t charge any type of fees to their depositors. Also, as soon as you deposit your funds they are immediately available for you to play. ePassporte however, charged both deposit and withdrawal fees and on average it took around 2 days for you to play.

Sport Tidbits:
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is the primary culprit in the closing of ePassporte and others like them

To “encourage more young females on to the tables and see them dominate” is Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh’s main goal. This top-notch women poker player began making a name for herself in the world of poker when she began playing Limit Hold’em at Pokerstars.com .

Serious about learning the game and playing it well, Jennicide read six books on the subject as well as educated herself on poker hand histories. A year later she became the top female tournament player at Pokerstars.

Jennifer’s nickname and Pokerstars screename “Jennicide” stemmed from her online gaming hobby as a youth (she was and still is a huge video game and computer enthusiast). To read more about Jennifer Jennicide’s Playboy debut please see Online Poker News about Poker Players.

The NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship was held on February 28th through March 2nd, in Pure Nightclub at Ceasar’s Palace in Las Vegas. It included sixty-four celebrities, poker professionals and amateur players including actors; Jason Alexander, Don Cheadle, Brad Garret, actress/poker pro Shannon Elizabeth (2nd straight year at the final four table) and; poker pros, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Joe Hachem, Phil Ivey (2008 World Poker Tour Champ), Daniel Negreanu, Andy Bloch, and Vanessa Rousso and MLB legend Orel Hershiser (who astonished all and added excitement by ending up in the final four of the game!). Each player put up $20,000 to play in this poker championship.

The following is an excerpt from the recap of the final day’s play that my boyfriend wrote. You can check his piece out at http://www.PokerOwnage.com.

Full Tilt Poker Pro Chris Ferguson finally shook off the National Heads-Up Championship monkey off his back.

In what was built up to be the “Battle of the Bridesmaids,” it was the tourney veteran Ferguson who would defeat fellow FTP pro Andy Bloch en route to the 2008 National Heads Up Championship title.

Andy Bloch, who has been known for not being able to close out the “big tournament” at times, was last put in this situation in the inaugural $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, where he lost both a huge chip lead and [eventually] the heads up battle against the late Chip Reese. The final match against Chris Ferguson would prove to have a similar fate, although he didn’t go down without a fight.

In fact, the best-of-three match would go down to the wire. The 1st one went to a rallying Andy Bloch, as he came back from a 4-to-1 chip deficit to beat out Ferguson’s TPTK with a flopped set. With momentum clearly in Bloch’s corner, it was the man they call Jesus who had to now come from behind. In the 2nd match, Ferguson did just that. He hit quad Queens against his fellow Full Tilt pro, and the match was squared up at 1 apiece.

In the 3rd and final match, it would be a coin-flip that would decide the players’ fate in the Heads-Up Championship. On a flop of 10 7 3 (with 2 spades)…..For the rest of this article, please visit http://www.PokerOwnage.com.

According to The Associated Press on Sunday, records released to them through the Freedom of Information Act, showed the FBI had investigated Max McGee, famed Green Bay Packers wide receiver for illegal gambling.  This occurred for several months from the end of 1972 through September of 1973.

It was alleged that after his football career had ended, he became a bookmaker. The records showed McGee kept company with people who were connected with the 1963 NFL gambling scandal, one of which being Packer half back and McGee’s roommate for ten seasons, Paul Hornung.  The NFL suspended Hornung in 1963 for gambling on his own games.  Hornung has always maintained although the two of them enjoyed playing poker together, he never placed a bet with him.

Although the ostentatious McGee loved to party, play poker and bet on horse races, there was never enough evidence to prove he did anything illegal and the FBI dropped the case against McGee.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello was reported as saying he was unaware of the FBI’s investigation of McGee. Denise McGee, his widow, was also unaware of the investigation even though she didn’t meet McGee until after the investigation would have ended. She commented, “I was with him for 26 years, and he is the most honest and loyal person I ever met. Did he like to bet on football games? Yeah, a lot of people do.”

Max McGee scored the first touchdown in the first-ever NFL Super Bowl; Super Bowl I was played on January 15, 1967 at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. Originally he wasn’t even supposed to play in the game, but in the end, he caught seven passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Vince Lombardi was head coach of the Green Bay Packers and they claimed victory over the Kansas City Chiefs with a score of 35-10.

McGee died in October, 2007 at the age of seventy-five when he fell to his death from raking leaves off of the roof of his Minneapolis home.  Interestingly enough, the song “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers was played during his funeral.

Tidbits of Info:

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into federal law on July 4, 1966 by the 36th president of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson without fanfare on his Texas Ranch. The act is based upon people having the right to know what our federal government is up to. This act applies to all departments and federal agencies in the executive branch of the government. It excludes our President, Congress and courts as well as state governments. Files held on citizens being investigated by federal agencies become a matter of public record after the citizen has died.

The Super Bowl trophy aka, the Lombardi Trophy, was named after legendary coach Vince Lombardi.

The name for the Super Bowl was devised after Kansas City Chiefs former owner Lamar Hunt was inspired by the name Super Ball on one of his daughter’s balls one day.

In 2007, $900,000 plus was spent by The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) in their efforts to lobby federal government agencies in relation to the online gambling legislation. The PPA is a nonprofit organization presided over by former New York Senator Alfonse D’Amato and includes an estimated 800,000 poker players and supporters from the US. This group’s primary focus is for the protection of poker players’ rights while maintaining the game’s integrity.

The money expended by the PPA was twofold. The first one towards their lobby efforts for a bill that would have poker not being subjected to the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that restricts online gambling by making it illegal for financial institutions to process these transactions. These financial institutions can only conduct business pertaining to fantasy sports, lotteries and horseracing. The second is in relation to the regulation of the online gambling industry by legislation.

The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 was signed into law by President Clinton making it a requirement for lobbyists to disclose their financial activities that might sway executive and legislative branches’ decisions over certain issues.

Could online poker become legal again in the state of California? California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine is intending to raise that issue in a new study bill aimed at convincing the California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) and the Department of Justice of just that. This assembly bill titled AB2026 will be introduced on March 20th, 2008. The study bill will acertain the legalities of intrastate online poker and why should it become legal in California. If this bill comes to fruition, The Governor along with Legislature will have control over the operations and that California online poker players will be protected. According to Assemblyman Levine, “Our understanding of the law is that as the player and server (hosting the online game) are in California, it would be legal.” He goes on to add that that is what they are trying to find out.

Since October, 2006 when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed, online gambling in the United States has taken a big hit. Buried in a bill that was created to stop terrorism in the US this act makes many forms of online gambling illegal; online poker being one of them. This act also sparked the debate over whether or not poker is a game of skill or a game of luck and whether or not the game is a form of gambling.

If online poker is legalized in the state of California it could create a nice little power boost for our state’s economy.