The Latest in the Absolute Poker Scandal --  Online poker room Absolute Poker has decided against releasing any "official" statements of late on the incidents of cheating players; however, a message purporting to be from AP was posted on selected poker forums.  Dated October 24, the post adds nothing new of substance to an early October 21 message.  The October 24 statement still refers to an individual, single "consultant" to the firm as being the person behind an inside fix, and no person has actually been named in a printed AP statement to date.

However, former AP spokesman Mark Seif spoke out in a video interview on the matter several days later, during which Seif mentioned A.J. Green in connection with the scandal without specifically referring to Green as the consultant.  Green, who has also been known as Allan Grimard, thus becomes the first person named by anyone connected directly to the upper echelons of AP.  Green/Grimard is alleged to be one of the primary people behind the scandal in other published reports.

PPA Conducts D.C. "Fly-In" --  The Poker Players Alliance conducted a "fly-in" at Washington D.C. this past week, with 100 or so PPA officials and representatives meeting with members of Congress as part of the PPA’s efforts to overturn last year’s UIGEA or carve a skill-game exemption for online poker.  The PPA met with about 40 Congressman overall, and the true impact of the two-day event has yet to play out.  The PPA was successful, however, in generating a fair amount of mainstream press on the topic.  Howard Lederer, Al D’Amato, Radley Balko, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Annie Duke, and Harvard Law professor Howard Nesson were among the many people on hand for the event.

Unibet CEO Out on Bail --  We reported on the detainment last week of Unibet CEO Petter Nylander in Holland on a warrant issued by a French court.  Nylander appeared before Dutch authorities and was granted bail, but he will be transferred to France shortly to answer the charges brought.  Those charges were instigated by complaints from France’s state-run monopolies under a couple of antiquated 19th-century laws, and it is believed that the black eye suffered by France in the eyes of other European Union nations is the reason is why France is backing away from the case; experts believe that the matter will be quickly dropped and that Nylander will be released.

WTO Deadline Extended for U.S-Antigua Arbitration Hearing --  This one wasn’t much of a surprise, since the U.S. has stalled at every step in its bad-faith negotiations with Antigua, the World Trade Organization, and the rest of its world over its refusal to allow free access for international online gaming.  In this case, however, Antigua also went along with the request to extend the arbitration deadline.  The matter is now set for a mid-December conclusion.  The wait may work in Antigua’s favor, as increasing international pressure and the threat of a $100-billion judgment in favor of the European Union countries as a party of interest continues to work against the dug-in U.S. Trade Representative office.

PokerStars Announces First-Ever Chinese Event --  Big-time poker comes to China later this fall -- technically to Macau, China’s designated center for gambling and other high-life entertainment -- in an Asia Pacific Poker Tour Event sponsored by PokerStars.  APPT Macau is scheduled for November 22-27, 2007 and online qualifiers are already available for the history-making event.