All Hail "Annette_15" --  Stereotypes be damned; Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad, is young, female, and very, very good at poker.  Obrestad, from Norway, who is now the ripe old age of 18, has rocketed to the top of the online rankings, and took down the $500,000 Full Tilt Guaranteed poker tournament on Sunday night.  Obrestad’s age is still a problem, though, despite her poker skills.  She was in Vegas for the World Series of Poker, and despite not being able to compete due to the WSOP’s minimum age of 21, she still somehow snuck into the casino to view the world’s slightly older best from the rail.  In three years, when she can legally compete there, she’ll draw as much attention as any newcomer.

Not One "Ooops," But Several --  Speaking of underage poker players, 2006 Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure final-tabler Aurangzeb Sheikh probably shouldn’t have been driving his brand new 2007 BMW G-6 sportster recklessly, at speeds over 80 mph, on an eastern Arizona highway.  Nor should he have been hauling a duffle bag containing over $51,500 in cash, nor should he have tested positive for THC (the active ingredient in marijuana).  That’s a recipe for "further investigation."  It turned out the 19-year-old Sheikh was returning to his Houston home from Las Vegas, where he played in cash games surrounding the WSOP by using his older brother’s ID.  Sheikh, who won over $170,000 for that Stars Caribbean Adventure finish, was cited for DUI-drugs, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and forgery -- as in his brother’s falsified Pakistani driver’s permit.  He was booked into the Graham County Jail and released the next day, but did get his car, money and laptop returned once the FBI confirmed that he was a legitimate poker pro.

WPT Announces Chinese Pact, Posts Mild Second-Quarter Loss -- World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE) picked this week to announce both its second quarter non-earnings and a new deal with China.  WPTE posted a second-quarter loss of $3.34 million, or 16 cents per share, about equal to the net gain the company posted in the same quarter a year ago.  The loss of revenue associated with the now-defunct Professional Poker Tour was cited as part of the reason for the loss.  WPTE also announced a deal with Mainland China’s China Leisure and Sports Administrative Center (CLSAC), an arm of its national State Sports Administration.  The deal surrounds the marketing of the Chinese card game traktor, which is something akin to bridge.  The deal gives the WPT a potential inroad into the Chinese market when and if a more open form of online gambling is ever allowed.

Automated Poker Tables Gaining Ground --  Their march is slow but seems inexorable.  More and more brick-and-mortar (meaning real-life, not online) casinos are installing automated, dealer-less poker tables.  A few are offering poker exclusively in this form, and the new largest "all automated" room has just opened in New Buffalo, MI, which is on Lake Michigan, north of the Gary and East Chicago, IN casinos also offering poker.  The room features 19 new PokerTek PokerPro tables, including 15 full-sized ten-seaters and four of the new heads-up (two-player) tables.

Full Tilt Backs Away from Moscow Millions --  Full Tilt announced this week that they would no longer sponsor the Moscow Millions, citing a "fully booked schedule of prior international commitments" for its player/endorser pros.  Maybe, maybe not, but Full Tilt has stopped running its promotions for the event and will instead deposit the equivalent amount for the prize packages into winning players’ accounts.  The event itself is still scheduled to occur, but may be pushed back from October to November (or later), due to Full Tilt’s departure.