FTOPS VII in Full Stride --  The first week of the seventh triannual Full Tilt Online Poker Series saw millions of dollars in prizes awarded, and one very well-known winner.  Erick Lindgren, he of the Bellagio Big Game, captured FTOPS Event #9, a $300+22 event, for a $291,748.57 payday.  Lindgren’s nice score wasn’t the only one from early FTOPS events. "gautchos" captured Event #10, a $1,000+60 event with a million-dollar guarantee, for $329,800.00, and "cashmaker81" captured the opening event of the series for $183,526.78.

Michael "Mickey" Pickett Wins WSOP Circuit Rincon --  Lee Watkinson and Gavin Smith were the big names here, but it was the rather unknown Michael Pickett who took home the big money in the World Series of Poker Circuit event at Rincon Resort and Casino, near San Diego.  Pickett’s victory over a 148-player field meant a $229,002 payday, plus the usual bonus goodies -- the winner’s ring and a seat into this summer’s WSOP Main Event.  David Peters took the runner-up spot.  Smith finished sixth, with Watkinson in seventh.

Gutshot Club Appeal Tossed --  The UK decision against Derek Kelly, owner of London’s poker-themed Gutshot Club, will stand.  Kelly’s combination restaurant and poker room was cited as being an illegal gaming establishment, with British judges reaching their verdict by defining poker as a game of chance, rather than one of skill, as Kelly contended it was.  In any event, Kelly won’t face prison time; he was conditionally discharged for two years as part of the appeal’s denial.

PokerStars Announces $2 Million Turbo Takedown --  PokerStars announced this a major tournament with no cash entries allowed.  It’s the $2 Million Turbo Takedown, with Stars players able to buy in directly only by using 10,000 Frequent Player Points (FPPs), or satelliting in for a smaller FPP amount.  This tourney promises to pay one in three entries and will serve up a $200,000 first-place prize.  Along with the Stars Sunday Million and the Main Event in FTOPS VII, it’ll be a huge weekend in online poker.

Austria Launches Government-Run Online Poker Room -- First Sweden, with its Svenska Spel, did it, now Austria.  That European country last week launched Bet2day, an online poker room on the Boss Media network, which becomes the second online room run as a government-sanctioned site.  It’s unknown as yet whether Austria plans to limit or restrict other online poker rooms in the way the Swedish government has attempted to favor Svenska Spel, a situation which has led to ongoing European Union actions and remains unresolved.