Busy days for the Weekly Poker Net, with almost all other news, important as it was, paling in comparison to the arrests of two NETeller founders at the start of the week --followed by NETeller’s own response in pulling the majority of its services from the U.S. market.  While the case does not appear to be tied to poker, but is instead related to online sportsbook operations, the poker world remains damaged due to the sweep of the United States’ immense and over-large brush.  Elsewhere, the Aussie Millions wrapped up its extended run Down Under, and a “tastes like poker, but it’s not” London casino scam made for an interesting if irrelevant read.  But here’s the skinny on the skinny on what was a vital, if not pleasant, poker week:

NETeller Founders Arrested, NETeller Yanks Services Between U.S. and Gambling Sites --  The big news of the poker world this week was most unwelcome, a rapid-fire sequence of events that began when U.S. authorities arrested NETeller founders John Lefebvre and Stephen Lawrence on money-laundering and racketeering charges.  The two founders, both Canadian citizens, were each living within the U.S. or its territories at the time, putting them blithely within reach of the United States Department of Justice as it attempts to make a preemptive strike against both online gambling and the World Trade Organization (WTO).  A decision pending by the WTO is all but certain to uphold the positions of NETeller and all other international firms that are licensed and regulated and have connections to online gambling.  As a result of the arrests, however, NETeller immediately ceased providing service between U.S. customers and gambling sites, a move which was quickly mirrored by several other major online e-wallet services.  The move has created a massive freeze in the online-gambling industry, complicated by the fact that the U.S. also seems to have put pressure on the Automated Clearing House [ACH] provider formerly offering services to NETeller; NETeller has been temporarily left without a way to allow U.S. customers to retrieve or otherwise use their funds.  More on this in future reports.

Hansen Takes Down Aussie Millions Title --  Well-known poker superstar Gus Hansen claimed the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event title, coming from behind to reel in chip-leader Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, a young player well known in major events but a relative newcomer to live-casino play.  Hansen won AU $1.5 million for his efforts.  Andrew Black, noted for reaching the 2005 WSOP Main Event final table, claimed third, and Marc Karam and Kristy Gazes also made the final seven.

British Casino Bust Nabs Three “Poker” Cheaters -- The reports called it poker, but it wasn’t; it was instead one of those casino games designed to look something like poker, such as Caribbean Stud or Let It Ride, that are really just house-edge games in disguise.  Anyhow, in reports that identify the three scammers as a Chinese gang that had scammed at least six of London’s 25 casinos, the three -- Yau Yiv Lam, 45, Fan Leung Tsang, 41, and Bit Chai Wong, 39 -- were caught in a high-tech operation involving concealed minicams held low to the felt, thereby catching glimpses of the cards as they were dealt to the players.  The camera images were then tramsmitted by Lam and Wong to Tsang, parked outside in a white van whose repeated presence was part of the tip-off to security that something was amiss.  Tsang transmitted optimum strategies to the players through small earpieces worn by each, allowing them to shatter the house’s edge.  Wong won 34 of 44 hands immediately prior to the arrest.  The three are believed to have siphoned about £250,000 from affected casinos during their run.  Too bad the arrests didn’t develop in a slightly different way; there was a thin chance for a “Tsang Sang, Wong Done Wrong, Lam on Lam” header.  But that’s gone now, alas....

Mansion Poker Not Accepting U.S. Deposits -- Connected to the NETeller fracas above, Mansion sent out an email to its player database later in the week that it was no longer accepting U.S. deposits.  Whether or not this means that Mansion is still going to be open to U.S. players is a matter of debate, since Mansion is one of the sites that had no alternatives in the case of an e-wallet pullout, as occurred.  So while the email may indicate a pending pullout, it may also be just an acknowledgement of the current market situation, something of a moot point.  One connected development is that Mansion has moved forward by several hours the timing of its daily $100,000 Guarantee tourneys, making them more conducive to European players than to North Americans.  Mansion has tried very hard, but has caught terrible luck and timing in several ways; we’ll have more on this one in the future as well.