In addition to providing Seidel with his first career WPT Championship, his victory puts him at the top of the CardPlayer Player of the Year standings, three spots ahead of fellow Team Full Tilter Phil Ivey and four spots ahead of defending champion, David Pham.

Seidel chose not to follow up his victory with a trip to Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Finale, but a few other pros made the journey to the Cote d’Azur. When Day 3 kicked off on Monday, Rino Mathis, Dario Alioto, and Thomas Wahlroos all had very playable chip stacks. Will any of them go on to win? I’d like to say so, but with this much play left, not even a Donkey of my caliber will go out on a limb and predict victory yet.

The poker forums have been buzzing all weekend over the announcement that ePassporte is no longer accepting online poker-related transactions. That’s right – they’ve closed their borders and not even a valid Visa (or MasterCard) will let you deposit to sites like FTP using ePassporte.

While ePassporte has yet to issue an official statement to users, a letter posted online states the company has made its decision in light of “a widespread investigation of Internet gambling, including poker, by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.” ePassporte’s letter goes on to say that the company does not believe it has violated any laws, but “we do not wish to be associated with anything that might be considered illegal by the United States government.”

In happier news, Congressmen Barney Frank and Ron Paul have recently introduced new legislation designed to prevent implementation of the controversial UIGEA regulations. Specifically, H.R. 5767 will “forbid the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from proposing, prescribing, or implementing any regulation that requires the financial services industry to identify and block Internet gambling transactions.”

While calling this a move to repeal the UIGEA may be a little strong, Frank and Paul certainly don’t pull any punches in outlining the flaws they see in the legislation. “These regulations are impossible to implement without placing a significant burden on the payments system and financial institutions” writes Frank. Adds Paul, “The ban on Internet gambling infringes on two freedoms that are important to many Americans: the ability to do with their money as they see fit, and the freedom from government interference with the Internet.”

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services for further action, and we’ll keep track of its progress through the legislature.

Until then, keep playing – and keep reading.

Really, that’s it. But, here’s the good thing – much of the talk was from people who say the UIGEA as currently written is, for all intents and purposes, completely unworkable. In short, the banking industry dislikes the law because it forces them to police their clients’ transactions and block those that might be earmarked for “illegal gaming”. What’s more, the Justice Department can’t even help make their lives easier by identifying what constitutes “illegal gaming”.

So, what does all this mean for us? For now, more of the same, but industry representatives and online poker proponents liked what they heard. As the Poker Players Alliance posted on their site, “… the hearing was a huge success that verified what the PPA and others have been saying all along: prohibition does not work. It also reaffirmed our position that there is no federal statute that would preclude someone from playing a game of skill, like poker, on the Internet.”

For even more reasoned commentary on the state of online poker, check out what two pretty bright guys name Andy and Chris had to say in Washington on the eve of last week’s hearing.

Wow, that was bad. Even by my standards. Sorry. Really, I am.

With that out of the way, I’ll get to meat of this entry which is this; Erik Seidel is having another good run at a high-profile tournament. As of this writing, Erik is sitting in 11^th place out of 33 remaining players at the Foxwoods Poker Classic in lovely Ledyard, Connecticut.

When play resumes today, Erik will be sitting with 417,500 chips, which is about half as many as chip leader Allen Bari has in front of him. But with blinds at 4K/8K with a 1K ante, there’s still plenty of play left. And with eight WSOP bracelets to his name and only a couple of other name players left in the event (Paul Darden in 10^th and Ted Forrest in 12^th), we think Seidel has a pretty good chance of adding another trophy to his collection.

In news entirely unrelated to poker, Charlton Heston has passed away. If there is a heaven, hopefully they don’t let in those damn dirty apes. Otherwise, Chuck is in big trouble.

In honor of the passing of Moses, The Captain will now part the Red Sea and turn the doomswitch off (for a limited time only). Then we’ll stage a chariot race around the office because, well, we really have nothing better to do.

We’ll be back next week barring any life threatening injuries suffered in the race. And if one of us doesn’t make it we’ll have a nice supply of Soylent Green on hand. Mmmm, tastes like chicken…

So that’s that. Seidel advances to the next round by a count of five to four. By the way people, I’m not ashamed to admit that I am half Canadian. So it’s OK for me to poke a little fun at the biggest little country in the world (or I am thinking of Reno?). I shall end this piece the only way I know how, with a quote from The Simpsons: “I come from Canada; they say I’m slow, eh?” Until next week…

To find out, we asked him – here’s what she had to say:

What does “poker lifestyle” mean to you?

It means thinking and talking about poker all of the time. You play poker 24/7, not just when you are at the table. And I never play poker just for fun.

Who’s the poker player you admire most?

I admire Barney Frank for standing up for personal freedom in the fight for online poker.

What’s the best line you’ve ever heard at the table?

“Well Doyle, you play your money and I’ll play THEIR money.”

—Sam Grizzle after Doyle complained about one of his plays. He is usually staked.

What is the one job you could never be paid enough to do?

I could never be paid enough to be the President of the US.

Away from poker, what do you do to relax?

I spend time with the family and enjoy going to movies.

What are your “desert island” book, recording artist, and movie?

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the Grateful Dead, and Paths of Glory.

Obviously, Howard is intense wherever he goes. But then again, if you lived and breathed poker like The Professor does, you’d probably be pretty intense as well.

Now, where’s that copy of Workingman’s Dead?

Oh well. Those are the breaks and everyone has to win their first tournament somewhere, right Erik?

Of course, Erik is still singing all the way to the bank as his performance was good enough to earn him AU$1 million, which has got to be worth at least five times that much in American money. (OK, we’re just guessing on that last part, but it’s safe to say, Erik won’t be worrying about where his next mortgage payment is coming from.)

Another player with a newly robust bankroll is Erik’s fellow Team Full Tilt member, Howard “The Professor” Lederer who banked AU$1.25 million for winning the $100K buy-in event down in Melbourne.

Congratulations to both players. Now, about those loans we wanted…

Yeah, we’re fans of Carl Spackler in these parts. We’re guessing that aaalvin is too – if he’s ever watched Caddyshack.

While we don’t know if Carl ever made good on his dream of winning the Masters, aaalvin pulled off a feat in the last $1 Million Guarantee that we think is just as impressive. Don’t believe us? Then you try playing your way from a 50 Full Tilt Point SNG to second-place finish in FTP’s biggest monthly tourney.

In addition to earning our respect for this impressive performance, aaalvin earned something much more valuable - $126,787. Congratulations aaalvin. Now, about that loan…

If you’ve been surfing around Full Tilt Poker over the past few days, you may have noticed a new red pro at the tables. So, let us be the first to officially welcome David “The Dragon” Pham to Full Tilt Poker.

If you’re not familiar with David’s resume, here a few highlights:

• The man owns two WSOP bracelets
• He’s made five WPT final tables, and has won both the LA Poker Classic and the Bellagio Five-Diamond Poker Classic
• He’s one of just a handful of players to have twice been named CardPlayer Magazine’s Player of the Year

And, despite the guys over at Wicked Chops claiming otherwise, we believe that David Pham is absolutely a real dragon. Until next week…