News both important and interesting made for another full Weekly Poker Net haul.  The NETeller saga underwent further developments with details about the original U.S. banking blockade beginning to seep out.  A second front launched by the United States’ Department of Justice was met with disdain by United Kingdom politicians and banking executives, the result of a massive “fishing expedition” -- and we thought we were the only ones casting a net.  Daniel Negreanu made the news in a couple of different ways, including a strong finish at the recent Tunica event.  Oh, yeah, and there’s more good stuff, too:

NETeller Removes Account Options for U.S. Customers --  A week or more after NETeller announced its immediate withdrawal as a service between U.S. customers and online gambling sites, U.S. customers found their own options for retrieving their monies further reduced.  Many high-end customers used a NETeller-issued debit card for convenience, but shut off U.S. clients’ ability to transfer money onto these cards late in the week.  Some of these cards were also serviced by U.S. banks, and the move was likely an effort on their part to restore a working agreement with the U.S. government to eventually free up what may be hundreds of millions of dollars currently frozen in EFTs (electronic file transfers), the result of U.S. customers abandoning the service.  News also broke of how those EFT transactions were frozen in the first place, the result of a U.S. federal edict issued to all U.S.-facing ACHs (Automated Clearing Houses) embedded into the international financial process.  It will likely take several weeks for this to be sorted out and for U.S. customers to retrieve their funds.

U.S. Issues Subpoenas to Major Banks and Investment Firms --  Connected to the NETeller matter and the renewed push by the U.S. DOJ against online gaming, about two dozen multinational banks and investment firms were subpoenaed with requests for all records connected to online gambling, in what some parties reflected upon as the “largest fishing expedition ever” of its type.  The subpoenas have already kicked off a round of protests among British politicians and banking executives, who cite the unfairness of the current extradition system and the heavy-handed, hypocritical approach of the U.S. in this matter.  One U.K. newspaper often reporting on gaming matters, The Register, served up the growing British resentment on this issue, an indication that the U.S. may not get to bully the rest of the world in its normal, accustomed-to way.  An article by Mark Choueke quotes a British lawyer involved in the gaming industry as follows: “The Americans want to bring these gaming company executives to what they refer to as 'justice,' which means slamming them in jail, pocketing their proceeds from the business and claiming the market as their own.  Our view is that the U.S. will legalise online gaming within five years.  These subpoenas and the arrests represent sheer hypocrisy.”  Hear, hear....

Negreanu the First... --  Bryan Sumner won the recently concluded World Poker Open at Tunica, MS, pocketing over $900,000, but as big a news story was Daniel Negreanu’s runner-up finish, giving him back-to-back final-table appearances in WPT-televised events.  Negreanu has made a renewed commitment to having a great year of poker in 2007, even involving having his head shaved, which brings us to the next item...

... and Negreanu the Second --  Kid Poker not only went through with his video-blog vow to shave his head, but he taped it for his fans as well.  The tape of the shaving (done by his wife, Lori), appears both on Negreanu’s own Full Contact Poker video blog and on a new site, RawVegas.tv, the brainchild of Steve “Chops” Preiss, known within poker media for his contributions to another edgy, controversial poker site.  RawVegas.tv now maintains Negreanu’s FCP video-blog entries on Negreanu’s behalf, and serves up a daily dose of Vegas and poker-themed craziness besides.  Another early RawVegas.tv video entry offers Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok in what promises to be continuing craziness, in a series of prop bets.

Borgata Winter Open, L.A. Poker Classic Begin Runs --  From the Aussie Millions to two WPT events to big poker doings on each American coast, the end of January serves up enough high-end poker events for everyone.  In fact, the schedule of events has been so busy that many major pros were forced to pick between big events, with a few players such as Negreanu forced to charter private flights to honor their tourney commitments.  Both the Borgata Winter Poker Open in Atlantic City and the L.A. Poker Classic (at the Commerce Casino), began this week, with the LAPC’s extensive run of events continuing until early March.

Gold Dumped by Bodog -- Jamie Gold’s stint as a Bodog spokesman lasted barely longer than Pamela Anderson’s poker site.  Gold, the 2006 WSOP Main Event winner, was summarily released by Bodog in a polite but very brief release that pointed the reason to Bodog’s marketing decisions, including pulling advertising from certain U.S. media markets.  Of course, similar American players David Williams and Josh Arieh remain under Bodog contract, meaning that sucking toes is a less grievous sin than sucking on recent late-night poker programs... and ruining one’s reputation within the poker world, referring to the still-ongoing Crispin Leyser case.  But perhaps even this wasn’t the real reason: Several reports indicate that Bodog boss Calvin Ayre disliked Gold personally, and in a matchup between a millionaire and a billionaire, always bet the bigger bankroll.