Well, since the World Series of Poker Main Event winner has been revealed on ESPN, I think it's ok to talk about it again. The whole thing was almost a forgone conclusion after about the 3rd day. Gold pretty much doubled his stack every day. By the time they got to the final table, I think only Alan Cunningham got close to him. Must be nice to hit every draw and win every race. It was kind of nice to see him in the empty poker room after it was all over, leaving a voicemail for his dad (who is disabled with ALS) telling him that he won.

Of course, on the legal front, he still hasn't seen half of his prize money. Six mil is still a pretty good haul, but I'm sure he regrets any promises he made to share it. Anybody hear anything new about the lawsuit filed against him?

Also interesting that Helmeuth won his 10th bracelet this year, putting him in a 3-way tie for the all-time lead.

In other legal news, Shana Hiatt (how could we not mention her?!?!) is suing the company that produces the World Poker Tour telecasts, as well as the creator of the WPT. Even though she's no longer under contract with the WPT, the WPT contends that her contract stipulated that she could not take a job with a direct competitor after leaving the WPT. They pressured NBC into not hiring Hiatt as the hostess of the National Heads-Up Championship. So Hiatt is suing.

I heard this week that one of the new anti-terrorism bills that was just passed by Congress and is sure to get the President's signature includes provisions that prohibit certain electronic transactions between banks and online casinos. It doesn't make playing online poker a crime, but somehow it makes certain kinds of rewards very difficult to distribute. Phil Gordon was saying that it will almost certainly cause a drastic reduction in the number of entries into next year's WSOP. Online poker sites will no longer be able to give out a "free" seat. He said the days of $10 million prize pools are gone.

From this week's Sports Illustrated:

He just seems a little too shifty, even by gambling standards.

I don't mind rooting against him.

Hiatt? Ng?.......Pshaw......

It's Clonie Gowen for me, hands down.