Poker News Forum — personally I find the folks over at Poker News provide up to date information in a professional manner and are all about sharing information with the poker community at large. The forums are broken down into clear categories from suggestions about the news site, discussions of established play to news commentary and poker gossip. A good place to start in the forum world.

CardsChat —This is the poker forum that stands in the middle of Poker news and 2 by 2. It offers an old school forum format providing basic discussion room, strategy talk and events schedules. Clean and simple but informative. With over 40,000 users you won’t be alone.

Two by Two— the biggest poker forum on the Internet, the Two by Two chat room is often a source of information for poker news outlets and a great place to learn about the best folks in the know in the online poker world. If you visit no other forum, you need spend some time at this site. Be familiar with the site as any player worth their salt has visited or is a member.

After reviewing the main poker forums you may want to explore other options and other sites. There may be a small site out there that better suit your needs and personality. Always check out the forums attached to your favorite casino sites. This is a great way to understand your players away from the table.

I’ve talked about British poker, Canadian poker and of course, American poker. So what about south of the border? What is the status of Poker in Mexico?

Of course there are a lot less full service casinos in Mexico. This could be due to a combination of economic woe and a lack of players. Tourists would be more likely to hang out at the casinos than the locals. But that isn’t to say Mexicans don’t like to play. The game, especially Texas hold em, has been gaining ground in the last few years. The nation has produced some top players to rival or at least equal American players.

Victor Perches won a WSOP bracelet back in 2006. He now resides in Las Vegas but hails from across the border. Playing professionally for a number of years, Perches has had a number of victories and earned over $1.5 million in winnings.

Angel Guillen won a bracelet for his home country at the 2009 WSOP. This 26 year old from Mexico City is known for his prowess in the virtual poker world but he does play live games once in a while. He has just under a million in winnings and 8 cash finishes and 1 first place finish. Guillen only began playing professional poker back in 2008 so we can expect to see him blossom in the coming years.

This year saw the first national poker tournament to take place in Mexico. The Life Poker Championship took place back in August with 300 players in attendance. The fact that it was broadcast live across the nation is wonderful.

So Mexico Is moving forward and expanding its poker presence. It may be a few years before the country has adequate casino space but one thing at a time.

It’s just great to know the world’s playing.

I’m always on the lookout for things to write about that involve poker but may be a little different from the usual poker blogs out there. I decided to delve into the archives and film and theater to find poker movies and plays that not only provided insight into the game but insight into the lives of its players and organizers. That’s how I came to spend this evening watching the 1998 British film “croupier.”

And I am so glad I did.

This gem of a casino drama set in London stars the well known Clive Owen as a master card dealer at one of the capital’s high end casinos. Jack Manfred is a wannabe writer who needs to play the bills. He decides to write a book about his life working at the casino and gets involved in a scam to rip off the casino and save an ex lover’s life.

It’s quite a story and poker lovers and gamblers of all kinds are hooked from the beginning. It’s sort of like being on the other side of the table, seeing your own game playing through the eyes of the workers in the casino.  Manfred’s home life is as complex as his work life and there is no lack of bruises, tears and lost winnings.

The movie slowly escalates into that classic final twenty minutes when things speed up and we watch as the casino heist begins. And…well I don’t want to spoil the movie for you but it’s a great ending for a great poker themed movie.

Watching poker movies may seem like a distraction from your gaming time but it can provide a more encompassing view of the world of gambling. It’s also a chance to learn tricks to cheat at 21, the rules of casinos and the desperation of many players. For me, it made me remember that the American dealer is the British croupier.

Well another week of the 2010 WSOP is behind us and we continue to enjoy some fabulous poker. As we go into the mid way break we have completed 57 events. Here’s an update on events 23 through 33.

Event 23 was the $2,500 Limit Hold’em six handed game and Dutch Boyd of the United States took it home with a J 10 against Brian Meinders also a native who was holding an A 8. The hand and a little good old fashioned poker gave Boyd $234,065 to put in the bank.

Event 24 was the much anticipated $1,000 No-Limit Hold ‘em event was taken by Jeffrey Tebben who landed a hefty $503, 389 bank roll. Tebben’s K2 was enough to take JD McNamara’s pair of jacks in the head to head.

For the 25^th event the pros stepped out. It was a $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low or Better Championship with Sam Fartha taking home the nearly half million in prize money. He did it with a J 9 7 4. But it was a close one runner up James Dempsey was holding a J 8 6 5. Talk about weird deals.

It was William Haydon of America was the main man in event 26. The $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Six Handed was won with an A J. Jeffrey Papola was runner up with his A 6. Things were close but Haydon went home with the $630,031 in prize money not to mention a pretty gold bracelet.

Event 27 was the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-98 event was taken by David Warga. He won the $208,682 over Maxwell Troy.

In Event 28 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha and Miguel Proulx of Canada took home a nice new piece of jewelry as well just over $315,000. This victory was quickly followed by Matt Keikoan’s win over Daniel Idema in the $10,000 Limit Hold ‘em championship. The last time Keikoan got a bracelet was 2008 so this made for a nice comeback after last year’s early finish.

The winners for events 30, 31 and 32 have yet to be posted but winner of event 33, the $2,500 Pot Limit Hold em/Omaha, was Jose-Luis Veladorwith a low hand of 7 6. Hey who cares right? He got to take home over a quarter million dollars. It’s not about the hands it’s about the skills.

It’s the second full week of play at the WSOP 2010 main event and we still have five more weeks of professional poker playing to enjoy. I’ll get right to this week’s results.

The week started event 16 or No Limit Hold’em six handed with a three day schedule and a $1,500 buy in.  Over 1,600 players took part with Carter Philips of North Carolina taking home the first place win. Samuel Gerber of Switzerland came in second and Craig Bergeron of Michigan coming home third. It’s always nice to hear that some money is going to the car making state right?

Event 17 began Tuesday and consisted of a $5,000 buy in for a game of good old fashioned no limits. It was Jason Dewitt that pocketed the $818,959 in first place earnings and Sam Trickett of England who took home the half million dollar second place finish. Jeff Williams of Georgia took home a healthy $328,762 for third place.

The buy in for Limit Hold em event 18 which started on Wednesday had a $2,000 buy in and Americans taking first, second and third place. It was Eric Buchman of Hewlett, NY that took home the bracelet. Brent Courson from poor old Michigan came in second and Steven Hustoft of Washington who came in third.

Also on Wednesday the 2-7 Draw Lowball no limit world championship began with a hefty $10,000 buy in and 101 entrants. David Baker of Michigan took home the bracelet as well as $294,321 in earnings.  Eric Cloutier of Louisiana came in second and George Danzer of Germany came in third.

Thursday began events 20 and 21. The Pot Limit Omaha with its $1,500 buy in went to John Barch of Texas. Klinghammer Thibaut of France got second place and Trai Dang of California came in third. There were a total of 885 entries. The Seven Card Stud event had 408 entries with Richard Ashby of Great Britain taking home first place. Christine Pietsch of California came in second and Darren Shebell of Las Vegas took third place.

As I write this on Sunday evening the results for events 22, 23, 24, and 25 are not yet known. 22 began Friday with the Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship. Event 23 is a four day Limit Hold’em tournament and event 24 in a No Limit hold’em game. The Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better World Championship started Saturday night and will go on for three days.

We are enjoying the mixed results so far and continue to wish all the players great cards and loose opponents.

Massachusetts politicians have been debating a bill to tax and regulate online poker in the state to boost the economy. They are trying to make tax gambling revenue on online sites while simultaneously promoting the opening of casinos and slot machines in the state. This will stimulate growth that’s for sure but taxing online poker has put many up in arms.

The Absolute Poker scandal resurfaced this week after a pro blogger revealed additional files and data that pointed to Scott Tom, co-founder of the online poker company as the responsible party who embezzled over $800,000 during online poker tournaments using fake accounts. Joe Norton, the other founder of the company, had admitted back in 2007 there had been a breach in security from someone inside the company. The blogger that broke the story, Hayley Hintze, has been threatened with two lawsuits by the online poker giant for liable.

Full Tilt Poker faces issues with both the state of Kansas and the government. An earlier lawsuit regarding the payment of compensation to poker game losers in the state will probably come to nothing as the Full Tilt gaming site is a peer to peer site. The company itself did not play against the residents of Kansas who are upset at losing. The suit did apparently spark a grand jury investigation of the company but that remains a rumor on the poker circuit rather than a hard fact.

It seems the week has ended on a high note with the legal determining that poker is a “mind sport” and thus on a level with chess and bridge. The announcement by the International Federation of Poker allows the game of poker to join the other mind skill games at the IMSA World Mind Sport Games which will take place in London at the same time as the 2012 Olympics.

It’s important for poker players, especially online players, to keep up to date on possible changes to poker laws, issues of honesty with poker game producers and possible corruption on sites. To enjoy a safe, fair game of poker, the player must make smart choices. Being informed is the only way.