US Feds allege Full Tilt Poker stakeholder and professional poker player Chris “Jesus” Ferguson was embroiled in an elaborate ponzi scheme. Now it is being reported he funneled $45 million of his $60 million in Full Tilt distribution payments into bank accounts held for him in the name of Pocket Kings Ltd. [more]

Hawaii, one of two states that does not even offer a lottery, is in the process of considering three different bills that would allow for both land-based and online gambling including Internet poker.

Last month, the US Justice Department opened the doors for states to begin allowing both poker and casino games on the Web. [more]

Australian firm Aristocrat Leisure Limited – who provide electronic gaming machines all the way up to complete gaming solutions, including ancillary equipment, electronic tables, services and systems – were the previous firm to officially apply to the Gaming Control Board for a licence back in late December as they look to expand their overseas concerns in countries such as the USA, the UK, New Zealand, Sweden, South Africa, Japan, Macau and Argentina. [more]

2005 World Series of Poker Main Event winner, Joe Hachem, will now serve as Ambassador for the Asian Poker Tour. Hachem recently parted ways with the world’s largest online poker room, PokerStars. At the time of his departure, Hachem claimed he wanted to spend more time with his family. [more]

A new winner was crowned on Friday at the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship. Seasoned pro Tom Middleton captured the Event #5: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed title. Also, an absolutely stacked final table was set in Event #6: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em w/ Rebuys. It includes 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event winner Tyron Krost, Dan “djk123” Kelly, Jim “Mr_BigQueso” Collopy, Jonathan Karamalikis; and Marvin Rettenmaier.

Another Black Friday defendant has admitted guilt in processing payments for online poker sites as Ira Rubin, among the 11 individuals indicted last year by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), pled guilty to three counts and is expected to serve from 18 to 24 months behind bars. [more]

Iowa lawmakers were discussing the possibility of legalizing online poker as part of a multi-state platform that would tap into the populations of other states considering the option such as Nevada and the District of Columbia. [more]

On his way to the upcoming Aussie Millions, Gus Hansen stopped off in Macau to play cash poker in Macau’s Big Game, finishing his third 24-hour marathon session with a huge profit of $3.8 million.

The famed Big Game at StarWorld Macau’s Poker King Club has been running for a few weeks and features blinds of $1,300/$2,600 in U.S. dollars. In addition to wealthy Asian businessmen, other players recently found seated at the Big Game table include top pros such as Phil Ivey, Sam Trickett, John Juanda and Andrew Robl. [more]

The Merge Bad Beat Jackpot has once again gone off. It had been building for a while and we had finally cracked the $1 million mark again before it was hit. Here is the hand ID for reference – #47082389-318

Player ‘Eulson’ was dealt pocket 7′s while player ’123maryc’ was dealt pocket Q’s. ’123maryc’ raised pre-flop and was re-raised by ‘Eulson’. Not to be outdone, ’123maryc’ re-raised again and was called by ‘Eulson’. All other players folded and the flop was dealt. [more]

The Aussie Millions 2012 Event 1 continues Sunday with 132 players remaining. 81 of those will be cashing out with the winner taking home $200,000.

Event 1 is the No-Limit Hold’em and continues through January 16. Event 2 – Pot-Limit Omaha kicks off on that day. Both events are a $1,000 + $100 buy-in. [more]