Recently, the Poker Player’s Alliance asked poker players to sign a letter urging the casino to change its position. Officially, the casino has said that it opposes Sen. Barney Frank’s bill that will legalize and regular online poker sites. The bill is currently winding its way through congress.

Within a few days, the letter had more than several hundred signatures, but the letter now boasts of more than 7,000 signatures. Some of the signatures include the biggest names in poker, including Annie Duke, Grey Raymer, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Vanessa Rousso, Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Phil Laak and Daniel Negreanu.

The casino, located in Southern California, is one of the largest poker rooms in the country. It’s believed that officials at Commerce Casino oppose the federal bill because they would instead prefer passage of a California bill that will legalize online gaming in the state.

The PPA had said it would call for a boycott of the casino if it refused to change its position on the online gaming bill, but for now the PPA has announced it will no longer support events at Commerce Casino. The lobbying group is stopping just short of calling for a full boycott of the casino.

In South Africa, however, the high government has taken a harsh tone and has declared all internet gambling to be illegal within the country. According to news reports, the South African government was awaiting a special report before it would make its decision when the Johannesburg high court made an immediate ruling that banned and made illegal all internet gaming.

Under the new laws, anybody who is either operating an online gaming room in South Africa or who plays in an online room could be subject to a fine equal to $1 million or imprisonment of up to 10 years.

It is also illegal to advertise online gaming or an online poker room and everyone from the online gambling company to the players to internet service providers can be liable under the new law.

The law will outlaw all international gaming companies but also companies that operate within South Africa. Currently, the new ruling is being appealed and the government has ruled that online gambling can continue until a final decision is made. It’s not known when that will be.

PokerStars.net calls The Sunday Million “the biggest online poker tournament in the world.” The no-limit hold’em tournament offers a prize pool of $15 million and according to PokerStars, attracts some of the biggest poker players from around the world. Satellites are offered throughout the week so players who play during the week can win a seat in the Sunday Million tournaments. The poker tournament takes place every Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The buy-in is $215.

You might instead prefer to play in the Sunday Warm-Up, which offers a prize pool of $750,000. This tournament also offers a buy-in of $215 and satellites are also held throughout the week. This tournament starts every Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

PokerStars also offers the Sunday 1/4 Million tournament that it calls ideal for “all levels and bankrolls.” This tournament offers a prize pool of $250,000 and it starts every Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

The Sunday 500 might sound like an Indy car race, but in fact it is a tournament that begins every Sunday at 5 p.m., which is a time chosen by PokerStars in order to make it accessible for players throughout the world. It offers a prize pool of at least $500,000 every week.

Finally, PokerStars offers the Sunday Second Chance. This is a tournament designed for players who are eliminated from the Sunday Million tournament. Its starts at 6:30 p.m. ET each Sunday and has a prize pool of $200,000.

You can read more about all of these Sunday tournament offerings at www.PokerStars.com.

The Sit & Go Madness will last for 48 hours, starting at 4 p.m. Friday Aug. 27 and ending at 4 p.m. Aug. 29. During that time, you can play as much as you want for more chances to win cash and prizes.

Play in the sit & go poker tournaments to win a share of the leader board prize money, or tickets to the madness raffle. You might win an entry to the madness freeroll, where you can play for a share of the $50,000 prize pool.

Overall, more than $125,000 in cash and prizes are up for grabs during the 48 hours of madness.

The event will be broken down into two 24-hour blocks, with a leader board for each of four groups during each of the 24-hour blocks. The top seven players in each group will be paid at the end of each two-hour block.

In the end, dozens of players will win their share of cash and prizes and like every weekend tournament, the more you play, the more chances you have to win.

Head to Full Tilt Poker.net for real money play (www.fulltiltpoker.com) to read all the details.

The City Center Casino in Rosario will be the site for the LAPT Grand Final from Sept. 22 to Sept. 26. It will feature a $5,000 buy-in main event and a number of side events sure to keep even the most dedicated traveler and sightseer in the casino longer.

As usual, there are online events you can play in that might win you a prize package to the event. Satellites are currently underway at one of the biggest poker sites, PokerStars (www.pokerstars.net), which can ultimately win you a prize package that will send you to the tournament and guarantee you a spot at the Main Event.

The winning prize package includes the $5,000 buy-in, hotel accommodations and money for other expenses. In all, the package is worth $7,250.

Rosario is the third largest city in Argentina and sits on the bustling Pirana River. It features tourist-worthy architecture and is considering one of the most charming metropolis areas in Argentina.

The WPT Legends of Poker main event features a low buy-in; the buy-in was lowered from $10,000 to $5,000 in an effort to get more players at the event, which could lead to better coverage and a more interesting tournament. WPT officials say that attendance was down 25 percent from the 2008 to 2009 event and they hope that the decrease in the buy-in price will increase attendance.

The event will continue until a winner is declared on Aug. 25. Last year’s winner was Prahlad Friedman. The tournament features a number of side events that are different from the main event. In all, there are 22 preliminary events with buy-ins that range from $225 to $545.

Organizers are banking on increased interest in poker following both the huge success of this year’s World Series of Poker tournament and a bill that would legalize online poker sites. Interest in poker seems to have increased recently and some believe that it’s due to the bill, which is winding its way through congress. ESPN’s coverage of poker tournaments also receives high ratings.

The poker tournament league offers women the chance to play poker in a woman-only environment and play against women from all over the world. The buy-ins are low, at just $5.50, and the women in the league can enter a tournament every day, if they choose.

The poker sites league has two divisions, which are arranged based on your currency, not your skill level. The two divisions are for those who play with dollars and those who play with Euros. Simply choose the right league for you and get playing.

Each time you enter a tournament as a member of the women’s poker league, you’ll have the opportunity to win cash and some luxury prizes, which might include trips to exciting places throughout the world like London and Monte Carlo.

You’ll also join with major female poker players like Vanessa Rousso and Victoria Coren, who are also members of the PokerStars women’s league.

New players at PokerStar.net real money can get a 100 percent bonus (up to $600) on their first deposit, so women who are new to PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) can get some extra money to play with upfront.

Currently, it’s illegal for online gaming sites (such as online casinos and poker sites) to operate in the U.S. All of the popular sites that Americans play on are operated offshore but accept U.S. players. Some thought that sites like PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) & Sportsbook.com Poker, in fact, would be denied the right to get a license because they might have been in violation of U.S. law.

PokerStars officials, however, expressed their full support of the bill currently working its way through congress.

“PokerStars maintains its strong support for H.R. 2267 and encourages the full House and ultimately the Senate to move quickly to secure passage during current Congressional term,” Paul Telford, general counsel for PokerStars, said Thursday. “PokerStars, a pioneer in operating online poker under stringent regulatory frameworks, looks forward to working with incumbent and new operators in promoting a safe and healthy online poker industry in the United States, as it currently does under similar licensing models in Italy and France.”

The bill includes a statute that prohibits current gaming operators who are in violation of U.S. gaming laws from applying for a gaming license to operate in the United States. Telford says that PokerStars is not in violation of any current U.S. gaming laws, so the site would be able to apply for a license.

Overall, more than $1 million in cash prizes will be awarded, including the $15,000 top prize. The more you play, the more chances you get to win.

Here’s how it works:

* Opt in to the promotion by visiting the mega million page in your player administration area. When you play on the site, your VIP points will be tracked; you’ll earn points playing at the real money ring or at tournament tables.
* You can earn more points the more you play. You’ll move up through the various VIP levels and as you do so, you earn more points each time you play. Each time you reach a level, you’ll get the corresponding cash prize. Your point total will be reset to 0 and you’ll start over with points, but at the level one higher than where you were.

Only players who reach the 15th level and accumulate 100,000 VIP points will be eligible for the $15,000 cash prize. At the first level, you can earn a $2.50 cash prize. The prizes keep increasing until you reach that top level.

Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment, Inc., has reached an agreement with Playdom, Inc., a social games company to re-launch its exciting Facebook game with the World Series of Poker brand. Playdom currently has their poker sites game as Poker Palace.

“We are very excited to bring the thrill and excitement of the World Series of Poker to the social gaming space with Playdom,” said Craig Abrahams, WSOP vice president. “We will immediately start to work on enhancing the game, bringing unique WSOP promotions and sweepstakes into the offering and ensuring that the battle for WSOP virtual championship bracelets can become a Facebook-friendly endeavor.

Playdom is a Mountain View, Calif.,-based company that offers a number of Facebook games, including Sorority Life, Mobsters and Tiki Resort.

“There is only one brand in poker that stands out and that is the World Series of Poker,” said Sean Phinney, vice president of business development for Playdom. “We think big brands will win on social networks and we are excited to start working together to create a unique and fun social gaming experience.”

Through WSOP on Facebook, players will be able to choose from a number of different offerings, including single table tournaments with full-table and short-handed play, single table play money and virtual cash games. Players can only play with and be awarded play money. There will soon be a battle for virtual WSOP bracelets. To tie the social gaming to the real world of poker, players will be able to enter sweepstakes for trips to Las Vegas and seats to live WSOP events.

Currently, gamers can find the WSOP Facebook games at www.facebook.com/WSOP; MySpace and other social networks will be added shortly.