The latest edition of the Weekly Poker Net brings both news that was and news that wasn’t.  It’s confusing, we know.  Some stories weren’t true at all, others were things that might come to pass, and yes, a few real news pieces floated into the Net as well.  We threw the little stories back, and here’s the best of the week’s haul:

Doyle Brunson NOT Arrested --  One of the craziest false rumors of recent memory erupted on early Monday, spurred by a semi-anonymous post on a minor Australian poker board.  Had Doyle Brunson really been arrested, and if so, why?  Later on in the day, his private nurse visited the Brunson residence to find Doyle had slept through the whirlwind, blissfully unaware of the whole mess.  And of course, he hadn’t been arrested...

A Week Without NETeller News Would be... Unusual --  NETeller was the subject of more negative news this week, but this time the blow was self-administered. NETeller announced a corporate downsizing, eliminating 250 of the 675 or so positions the company had at the week’s start.  220 of the layoffs occurred at NETeller’s Calgary facility, and the other 30 layoffs were due to a merging of U.K. offices.  In other NETeller offerings, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Southern New York announced a 30-day extension for the next round of hearings in the money-laundering case against NETeller founders John Lawrence and Steve Lefebvre, which will now not occur until later in March.

FTOPS III Concludes Successful Run --  Full Tilt Poker’s third Full Tilt Online Poker series wrapped up its ten-event slate with a Main Event that saw a $1.6 million purse at stake; the entire prize pool for the ten events approached $4 million.  The Main Event was won by traheho, who took down over $288,000 for his efforts.

Doyle’s Room, Other Sites Trapped by Sudden Tribeca Tables Pullout --  Tribeca Tables had announced months ago that it was exiting the U.S. market, although it also allowed member sites that wished to continue providing services to U.S. poker players an opportunity to obtain other services.  Tribeca, however, pulled the plug on these sites this week, leaving Doyle’s Room and dozens of other affected sites scrambling; most reports have Doyle’s Room serving as the anchor for a new poker network centered around the Doyle Brunson Poker Network of rooms, while others suggest a move into the Dobrosoft network is next up for Doyle’s.  New U.S. players were banned by Tribeca, effective immediately, with cash-play for existing U.S. customers ending on Feb. 28th.  Tribeca’s accelerated pullout is connected with its own merger into the Playtech network (formerly i-Poker), which does not allow U.S. players.  Published sources indicate that the Tribeca skins will be migrated to Playtech on or around Feb. 22.

D’Amato Rumored for Top PPA Slot --  Various reports had it somewhere between done deal and strong possibility, but by week’s end it was a deal still not done.  Former Republican New York senator Alfonse D'Amato may still become the front man in Washington politics for the Poker Players Alliance, though only time will tell.  D'Amato is an avid poker player with plenty of D.C. connections, and he is presumed to be working (should he sign on with the PPA) toward a carveout for online poker, one of the expressed goals of the organization.  Such a carveout remains a longshot, according to outside political analysts.

FirePay to Block Canadian Transactions --  Remember when Firepay was the darling of the e-wallet industry for poker players, combining low cost and ease of use?  FirePay couldn’t flee the U.S. market fast enough when the first hint of political difficulties began, long before the UIGEA was actually passed and signed.  Most poker sites dropped FirePay in return, though some still provide the service.  Now, FirePay has announced that it will no longer allow Canadian citizens to transfer money to gambling sites, as of Feb. 21st.  One wonders if Canadians will suffer the same parting-gift gouge that FirePay delivered to its American customers before cutting them off, attaching a mandatory $10 fee to U.S. EFT withdrawals, in a move that reeked of bad faith.

And last, but certainly not least: