Chris Moneymaker was overwhelmed with instant fame and having the role of poker ambassador thrust upon him, but has comfortably grown into it over the years. @bluff.com

Poker pro Mike Sowers, who has played thousands of tournaments in his lifetime, had one incredibly bizarre hand happen to him about a week ago at the 2013 World Series.. @cardplayer.com

Bonus coverage to include WSOP Asia-Pacific & National Championship. WSOP programming is back on the ESPN airwaves starting July 23 and wrapping up with “virtually” live coverage of the 2013 WSOP Main Event Final Table on Monday, November 4 and Tuesday, November 5. @pokernews.com

A total of 29 BOM packages are up for grabs across the two sites, including buy-in, 5-star hotel accommodations and spending money. The Battle of Malta is a four-day No-Limit Hold'em tournament held at the Portomaso Casino perched above the sparkling Mediterranean. @pokerlistings.com

Half of the 62 gold bracelets up for grabs at the 44th Annual World Series of Poker have been claimed and, according to WSOP officials, participation at the mid-way point is at an all time high. @pokernews.com

Olivier Busquet has been widely praised for his live analysis of WSOP final tables, but some have expressed concern about revealing too much. @bluff.com

T.J. Cloutier, winner of six World Series of Poker bracelets, is one of poker’s most accomplished players, but he’s also the butt of jokes about the pitfalls of trying to.. @cardplayer.com

Online betting exchange Matchbook.com has announced a documentary into Sam Trickett’s deep run in the Big One for One Drop tournament from last year’s WSOP. @pokernews.com

State gaming regulators cautioned the casino industry Monday about the use of Google Glass by customers, saying the wearable computers could be used as a cheating device by gamblers. @pokerati.com

In a welcome display of generosity to Genting Poker players to correct a previous mistake, Genting has announced a significant improvement to promotional terms with The Hendon Mob players to amicably close the promotion. @pokernews.com

Poker documentary Bet Raise Fold will be shown at the 2+2 party on July 6, “top dog” Mason Malmuth confirmed today. Bet Raise Fold: The Story of Online Poker premiered to an invite-only crowd last week and received a very positive reception. @pokernews.com

The fight to legalize online poker in the United States has reached a tipping point, with states pushing forward with their own online poker bills, while the federal government remains in gridlock. @pokernewsboy.com

The past couple of years during the WSOP, the high stakes action has dried up a little. It would seem that this year, if anything, we are seeing bigger games than ever during this period. @highstakesdb.com

Are you a tournament player that wants to cash and win more often? Are you sick and tired of having bad luck against terrible players at a critical stage of the tournament? @highstakesdb.com

Throughout the 2013 WSOP, BLUFF’s WSOP Photo Blog brings all the action from the Rio. Whether it’s action on the felt or a sneak peek behind the scenes, BLUFF is bringing it to you in full color. @bluff.com

And yet, despite being over 10,000 miles from Las Vegas and the biggest poker series in the world, there is a tight-knit poker community in Johannesburg, according to local pro Jarred Solomon. @pokerlistings.com

Daniel Negreanu’s $25,000 Fantasy League has seen a shuffle in the standings with Team Russia and Team Daniel Alaei making up the most ground on Team Mike Gorodinsky‘s early lead. @bluff.com

Jose Serratos tops the 2013 WSOP Daily Deepstack Player of the Series leaderboard for another week. Serratos has taken a massive lead with 348 points and has more than a comfortable lead over the rest of the top ten opponents. @bluff.com

Chris Moneymaker discusses the “perfect storm” of variables that led to poker’s explosion in popularity. @bluff.com

CAPTION THIS! (If you’re not willing to back me.) In this week’s episode, er, I mean last week’s … Andrew embarks on the Las Vegas Strip low-stakes Summer circuit (Rio, Venetian, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Aria, Wynn …) only to make a valiant 0-fer run, leaving us time to discuss a caravan of high-stakes cash games.. @pokerati.com

The Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III has kicked off its series of more than 200 events running all summer long on the Strip. The Card Player Poker Tour has partnered.. @cardplayer.com

A hot topic at last week’s iGaming Super Show 2013 in Amsterdam was the online currency Bitcoin. Viktor Bogdanov reported that attendees of the conference emphasized the adavatages of the virtual currency to online gaming including “low transaction costs” and “faster access to new markets”.. @pokernews.com

The chief executive of online gaming giant PokerStars agreed to forfeit $50 million to federal prosecutors to rid his himself of a two-year-old complaint filed by the U. @pokerati.com

Phil Ivey's close friend, Barry Greenstein, has commented on Ivey's legal battle against the oldest casino in Britain, Crockfords Casino. “I guess their new motto has to be ‘Play here, but if you win we may not pay you’. @highstakesdb.com

After three days of uproar, Genting Poker has reversed a previous decision to not honor tournament dollars accrued via a promotional tie-in with The Hendon Mob, calling the miscommunication “a genuine error. @pokernews.com

The huge action at the NLHE tables of Full Tilt continued yesterday (and indeed, is still continuing today) and alongside the ever present $200/$400 and $500/$1000 CAP PLO action we are enjoying a renaissance of sorts in the big bet games. @highstakesdb.com

One player, who says he is still owed $30k by Everleaf Gaming, has mounted his own personal campaign against their regulator, the Malta Lotteries & Gaming Authority (LGA). @pokernews.com

I swear Tom is really starting to piss me off. He knows full well I have little intention of trying to cover the WSOP this year … but damnit, I came up with that strategy kinda-sorta counting on a lackluster performance by our longtime Team Pokerati ambassador — a near certain result as per the.. @pokerati.com

  Jason Duvalcaptured his first gold bracelet Monday night, taking down the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Event 28, promising a hearty celebration with his rail. @bluff.com

“I guess their new motto has to be ‘Play here, but if you win we may not pay you,’” said Greenstein while on break at the 2013 WSOP. Ivey is involved in a massive lawsuit with the venerable casino after the property allegedly refused to pay Ivey out for a huge $11. @pokerlistings.com

Chino Rheem openly discusses his past struggles with gambling and distractions, and how he intends to control them. @bluff.com

  Isaac Hagerling received a gift of a three-outer for his 26th birthday at the 2013 WSOP. In the pivotal hand of the final heads up match in Event 27 $3,000 Mixed Max, Hagerling was all in with K T against Max Steinberg‘s A K on a king-high turn. @bluff.com

Chino Rheem wants to get out of debt and hopes to hit another large score this summer. @bluff.com

Chino Rheem is all about the value, and doesn’t care as much about honors. But he would still like to have a WSOP bracelet. @bluff.com

Many in the poker community consider Tony Cousineau to be the tightest regular on the tournament circuit. Such a reputation is fine by Cousineau. The Florida native has been grinding.. @cardplayer.com

Season XI of the WPT continued on FSN on Sunday with Part I of the L.A. Poker Classic featuring Paul Volpe, Danny Fuhs and Paul Klann. @pokernews.com

“Heads-up is great, as players aren’t protected,” he explained while on break at the 2013 WSOP. “If you’re playing a ring game with ten people, even if you’re not that skilled of a player, you can have a pretty default strategy and be protected. @pokerlistings.com

Ludovic Geilich won the inaugural PokerStars UKIPT Marbella Main Event for €130,000. @pokernews.com

  Paul Volpe continues to hold the No. 1 spot on theBLUFF Player of the Year leaderboard and even picked up some additional points this past week to widen the gap between himself and any challengers. @bluff.com

At the age of 21, Jeff Madsen won an improbable two World Series of Poker bracelets and made two other final tables, en route to about $1.5 million in winnings.. @cardplayer.com

Chicago – Rush Street Productions announced recently that it is launching a one-of-a-kind TV poker experience with its new televised poker series Poker Night in AmericaTM (PNIA). @pokerati.com

The poker world is full of facts, figures, stats and records. With so many numbers being crunched day in and day out, sometimes it is tough to see what they all add up to. @bluff.com

Jared Tendler works with some of the biggest names in poker, and has been credited by a number of these players with turning their poker game around. The roll-call of the players Tendler has worked with (that we know of) is impressive with names like Dusty Schmidt, Niman.. @pokernewsboy.com

Pinnacle Entertainment announced today that a big check point was reached in its quest to buy Ameristar Casinos, Inc. According to a press release, Pinnacle intends to sell Ameristar’s casino.. @cardplayer.com

WSOP.com has reported that 68-year-old Ken Lind won Event #26, $1000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship Monday morning. In addition to his first WSOP gold bracelet and The Golden Eagle trophy, Lind cashed for $634,809. @pokernews.com

GrindHero.com will pay back the majority of monthly subscription fees to the best contributors. PokerStrategy made a fortune monetizing a learning community of poker players; now a new forum is launching with its own twist—the best contributors get paid. @pokernews.com