FTOPS VI Concludes; "fkscreennames" Wins Main Event --  This fall’s sixth running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series concluded on the weekend with a busy slate of events, including a main event that saw fkscreennames walk away with the champion’s share ($385,937.45) of a nearly $2.2M purse.  That player grabbed most of the headlines but it wasn’t the single biggest FTOPS take; that honor instead went to wuddacooler, who snagged $418,800.00 for winning the two-day, $2,620 No Limit Hold'em Event #12 that started the day before.  All told, the 16 FTOPS events garnered over $11M in prize payouts… not bad for a silly game, is it?

Jesus Gets a Third Ring --  Chris "Jesus" Ferguson became the first player ever to win three World Series of Poker Circuit championships when he captured the title this past weekend at the Harvey’s Tahoe Circuit event.  Ferguson entered the final table with a sizeable chip lead, then fell behind local favorite Dustin Fox, before coming back to win the ring.  In a heads-up showdown that lasted exactly one hand, Ferguson flopped trip tens to crack Fox’s pocket aces.  Ferguson won $203,649 while Fox settled for $119,333 as the runner-up.

Annie Get Your Microphone --  Annie Duke was one of several pro-poker and pro-gambling witnesses who testified at a special Congressional hearing called by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Department of Justice.  At issue here is the national and international squabble caused by the UIGEA and the WTO trade dispute with Antigua and other nations.  By all accounts the hearing went well for the pro-grambling side, with some of the comments from the "anti" witnesses bordering on fanaticism and irrelevancy.  Conyers and Rep. Barney Frank were also among eight congressmen who subsequently sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, questioning that agency’s perhaps-rogue declaration of the U.S.’s withdrawal from WTO trade obligations without consulting first with Congress on the matter.

PokerStars APPT Macau on Tap --  China has often been a prize in the sights of globally minded poker entrepreneurs.  After years of planning and negotiating with a culture where poker is not the most popular card gambling game around, the time may be finally be right: The PokerStars-sponsored Asia Pacific Poker Tour comes to Macau Nov. 22-27 for the first-ever major poker event on Chinese soil.  Look for poker to rapidly become popular in the region, stepping up to join baccarat, Pai Gow and other games.