Recent events surrounding the US government and online poker industry have led many to believe that there simply is no hope left for the legalization of online poker in this country. But in reality, it could be just the push that American online poker players needed to force the issue into the senate in such a manner as to finally establish, one way or another, the legalities of internet poker in the US.

There are two major contests scheduled in the UEFA Championships semi-finals. One is set for today, April 26 – FC Schalke 04 VS Manchester United – and another tomorrow, April 27 – Real Madrid VS FC Barcelona. With two extremely important match-ups, not to mention radiant enmity, it seems like an optimum time to discuss their current situations and betting picks.

On April 15, 2011, now universally recognized as the ‘Black Friday’ of online poker, the largest poker sites facing the US market were effectively shut down by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) seized the domain names of PokerStars.com, FullTiltPoker.com, Absolute Poker.com and UB.com.

If you’ve been following the online poker world for a few years now, you likely remember a major headline story that ended with professional poker player, Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, being banned from the online poker site Full Tilt. It was an unconscionable scandal four years ago, so why is Full Tilt suddenly changing their minds?

The original story was that crime bosses must have hired a hit on Le Hoang Hung due to his divisive reporting. He was a journalist who didn’t mind unveiling facts about notorious criminals and publishing them in the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper where he was employed. According to the head of Long An provincial police, Colonel Phan Chi Thanh, however, Lieu was a lead suspect from the very beginning.

Who do you trust, a major Las Vegas casino operation, or a happy-go-lucky porn film maker who openly admits that he always gets his way? That question will be for the courts to decide as Wynn Las Vegas casino and ‘Girls Gone Wild’ producer Joe Francis duke it out.

With the fascinating rise of online gambling that began in the 1990’s, and continues to see exponential growth to this day, it’s little wonder that Hollywood would decide to make a film about it. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that big name actors bring in big dollars at the box office either.

Anyone who has been gambling over the internet for any decent period of time is aware that there are two main types of online gambling sites. You have your legal, reputable establishments, which make up the majority of players’ preferred destinations, and then you have your illegal, underground operations, where there is no guarantee that your winnings will be paid, but you can rest assured your deposits will be accepted with vigor.