"CrazyZachary" Claims FTOPS V Main Event --  He was rumored to be Barry Greenstein, but those rumors were unfounded.  While his true identity remains unknown, CrazyZachary took down one of the online poker world’s most prestigious titles, knocking off Clayton_27 for the victory in a short heads-up battle to wrap up the fifth Full Tilt Online Poker series.  CrazyZachary’s win in the FTOPS finale was worth $395,905.44.

Multi-Accounting Scandal Rocks Pocket Fives --  One would think that a 16-year-old kid who lost six figures due to illegal playing of multiple accounts on poker sites (and, of course, being underage in the first place) would have the common sense not to be caught doing the same thing again.  Not so for Josh Field, better known as JJProdigy, who forfeited a big payday about a year and a half ago.  It’s now known that Field quickly resumed his surreptitious, multi-accounting ways, as part of one of several "teams" now identified as sharing accounts, buying accounts from novices late in tournaments, and several other unethical practices.  Separate investigations by Full Tilt and PokerStars have already led to the banning of a dozen or two high-profile players, with at least one early FTOPS event and the Aug. 12th Stars Sunday Million affected by the controversy.  The willingness of a small percentage of largely young players to manipulate some of the largest online events is an example of technology gone haywire, and it’s already been addressed by at least one change to the Terms of Service (ToS) at Stars in recent days.  Expect more rules changes and crackdowns to follow.

Martin’s Poker, 24hPoker Merge --  The shifting business face of the European poker scene continued this week with the announced merger of Martin’s Poker (named for Martin de Knijff) and 24hPoker, among the fastest growing non-US-facing sites.  The new company will operate the Martin’s, 24hPoker and Staff Poker brands, while a second part of the 24hPoker Network will be split off to handle other network concerns.

Jean-Robert Bellande on Cast of "Survivor 15: China" --  This one’s been a badly kept secret for several weeks, but with the official announcement from CBS now made public, it’s now open news for all: Poker player Jean-Robert Bellande will be in the upcoming season of Survivor.  Bellande is one of 16 contestants playing for the million-dollar prize in the reality show that started the reality-show craze, even if Survivor does seem a bit long in the tooth these days.  Bellande’s up against a former WWE female wrestler (Ashley), a Christian radio talk-show hostess (Leslie), a gravedigger (James) too photogenic for the stereotype, a school lunchlady, a chicken farmer, and other camera-friendly, eclectic souls.

Speaking of China... --  WPT boss Steve Lipscomb has a most amazing blog post up at tvweek.com.  Some things are simply beyond comment, though a take on it by Wicked Chops Poker is worth the read.