September 28 2011, Brett Collson, Elaine Chaivarlis

The seemingly endless rumors and speculation surrounding Full Tilt Poker calmed on Wednesday. But we don’t expect that to last long. In the meantime, we bring you the latest online poker traffic numbers, an opportunity to play poker with the gorgeous Lacey Jones (in real life!), and more.

In Case You Missed It

Season 2 of the 2011 PokerStars Estrellas Poker Tour ended over the weekend with the conclusion of the Ibiza stop. If you’re wondering who took down the event and pocketed “92,100, then check out the Ibiza recap.

Did you miss ESPN’s coverage of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event? Maybe you want to live it all again. Either way, our WSOP on ESPN recap will help you out.

The online poker petition that was started last week has already met its goal of 5,000 signatures, but that doesn’t mean that’s all that are needed. The Poker Players Alliance is urging players to tell everyone and get more players to sign.

We’re sure your brain was wrapped around the Full Tilt Poker drama for the last week, but you should know that there are other things going on in the gaming industry. Inside Gaming has the scoop on Caesars hotel in China and new laws for Denmark.

Now that the 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker is officially over, we decided to take a look at some of the interesting statistics that emerged from the series. Check out our break down of the 2011 WCOOP.

Online Poker Traffic Numbers

The online poker traffic numbers from last week have been released. PokerScout reports that traffic stayed mostly steady, with a decline of just 0.1 percent. However, eight of the top 10 sites and networks saw decreases in traffic.

PartyPoker was the biggest climber of the week as the 2.5 percent traffic increase moved the site up one spot to No. 2 in the rankings. PokerStars held firm at No. 1, while iPoker dropped to No. 3 after spending five weeks in the two-hole. PokerScout reported that PartyPoker’s rise could have been a result of the Accelerator promotion that ends on Sept. 30.

As for year-over-year numbers, PokerScout’s ACES indicator reports that online poker traffic (with the exception of Italy) has decreased by 34 percent in the last year. PokerStars has seen a 24 percent drop over the past year due in part to Black Friday, while 888poker (up 109 percent) and Bodog (up 54 percent) have seen significant increases since September 2010.

Check out the complete online poker traffic report at PokerScout.com.

Meet and Play With Lacey Jones

Gaming company IGT is offering the chance to go one-on-one with the stunning Lacey Jones at its first online poker tournament during the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas next month.

On Oct. 4 through 5, Jones will be on hand in the IGT booth as the company unveils its new poker platform. Tournaments will run every hour on the hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sands Expo & Convention Center.

Jones began her career as a model before turning to poker and becoming sponsored pro at Absolute Poker and Full Tilt Poker. She has also served as the official hostess and bracelet presenter of the WSOP and has appeared on the cover of dozens of poker publications.

We know. Blah, blah. Here’s what you really want to see:

Find out more about the G2E convention at IGT.com.

EPT London Kicks Off This Week

Season 8 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour resumes this week with the London Festival of Poker from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6 at the Hilton London Metropole. PokerNews will be on site providing live coverage of the £5,250 Main Event until the next EPT champion is crowned.

Several members of Team PokerStars are already confirmed to be playing the Main Event, including Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Viktor Blom, Jason Mercier and Liv Boeree, as well as Team PokerStars SportStars Boris Becker and Fatima Moreira de Melo.

Last year, David Vamplew outlasted a field of 848 players to collect his first major title and a payday of £900,000. Vamplew defeated poker pro John Juanda heads-up for the win; the loaded final table also included Kyle Bowker, Tom Marchese and Per Ummer.

Other past champions of the EPT London Main Event include Aaron Gustavson, Michael Martin, Joseph Mouawad and Team PokerStars member Vicky Coren.

This year’s London stop is also offering a £20,500 High Roller event, a £2,150 8-Game European Championship, a £5,250 Heads-Up event and the £550 Women’s Event.

For more information, visit EuropeanPokerTour.com.

Phil Hellmuth Has Bieber Fever

And, apparently, lousy eyesight. The Poker Brat never shies away from an opportunity to rub arms with A-list celebrities, but this is just getting ridiculous. Tony G first had a run-in with the “Justin Bieber of poker” at the WPT Vienna stop in March, and Hellmuth found time to discuss private jets and girls with the youngster this week.

The person posing as Justin Bieber is actually Austrian poker player Thomas Brauner, who took 20th place at WPT Vienna. Only 10,000 or so more min-cashes before Brauner approaches the estimated net worth of his American doppelganger.

Visit Tony G’s blog for more shenanigans.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Follow Elaine Chaivarlis on Twitter – @LaneyLV

September 27 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

It wouldn’t be a typical day around here if there wasn’t a story on Full Tilt Poker to report - even if it is just a rumor. We’ve got the latest buzz surrounding the company, and we’ll tell you what the Nevada Gaming Control Board has to say about Internet poker in the state, and more.

In Case You Missed It

On Monday, a champion was crowned at the PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Melbourne. Lee Nelson emerged victorious, confirming his nickname – “Final Table.”

After 23 days and 62 events, the 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker is officially over. If you missed any of the live coverage of the Main Event, or want the short and sweet version, check out our WCOOP recap.

Last week, the poker world was inundated with Full Tilt Poker news. In our latest Five Thoughts piece, we take a look everything related to Full Tilt Poker from last week.

Since the inception of the World Series of Poker November Nine, the success of the players during their “off months” is tracked closely. Does winning a major title in the off months correlate to a better run in November?

The days until the 2011 November Nine are dwindling and we’re always curious to find out how the members of the prestigious Final Table are spending their time. We recently talked to Martin Staszko to find out how he’s preparing for poker’s biggest stage.

The Rumor Mill Churns

Tuesday morning while perusing the Internet for the top poker news stories of the day, we stumbled upon a piece on HighStakesDB that made us stop – “Full Tilt Poker Has Been Sold?”

According to HighStakesDB, TwoPlusTwo Pokercast host Adam Schwartz tweeted earlier on Tuesday that the sale of Full Tilt Poker was allegedly complete.

Shortly thereafter, Schwartz posted in the FTP Discussion Thread on TwoPlusTwo.

“I was told by what I feel <and most of you would too btw> is a very reputable source. This person doesn’t want me to say their name. Obviously I wouldn’t have said it if someone sitting next to me in the $1/2 game told me. If some of you are unhappy that i tweeted it, what can I say, I felt it was worthy of some confidence.”

Schwartz is backing this story though, saying he heard from a trusted source, and replying to a tweet asking if he thought it was true, by saying, “I would be very surprised if it wasn’t. Someone very close to the negotiations would have had to lie to him.”

Is it true? We don’t know. We reached out to Full Tilt Poker and have heard nothing back (not that we were really holding our breath). As always, if we hear anything, you all will be the first to know.

HighStakesDB.com has more.

Gaming Control Board at Ease

On Monday, the Gaming Control Board in Nevada listened to public input regarding proposed gambling regulations – which also includes Internet poker. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, discussions were “peaceful.” Maybe it was the feng shui in the room, or Internet poker isn’t that touchy of a subject.

“I think we have a solid foundation for regulations,” said control board chairman Mark Lipparelli.

Anthony Cabot, a gaming attorney, suggested “the regulations carry some type of language that they could not be used for intrastate wagering until a federal ban on Internet gambling is lifted or there is a clarification from the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Cabot also asked that “gaming customer would have the ‘seamless ability’ to transfer gaming funds between a casino account and an interactive gaming account, if they were operated by the same company.”

Read more at LVRJ.com.

Added to the Schedule

PokerStars has added a deepstack event to the European Poker Tour Prague schedule. According to the PokerStars Blog, the “300 + “30 buy-in, “30,000 guarantee event that was added to the schedule will double as the Eureka Poker Tour Grand Final.

If you thought that Season 1 of the Eureka Poker Tour was looking to add another stop, Romania, you would have been correct, but tax issues stopped those plans.

Last season’s EPT Prague attracted 563 entrants, and in the end, Roberto Romanello emerged victorious and pocketed “640,000.

Read more on at PokerStarsBlog.com.

For the Sports Fans

On Tuesday, DraftDay.com was launched. DraftDay, a daily fantasy sports website, is the brainchild of poker pros Taylor Caby and Andrew Wiggins.

“Taylor and I started tossing around the idea of a fantasy sports website years ago, but the timing was never right,” said Wiggins. “After I won my MLB league last season, I took it as a sign that we needed to push the idea toward reality. DraftDay is a unique fantasy sports experience that you won’t find anywhere else. There’s no season long commitment and there’s always a draft available.”

DraftDay allows sports fans to test their fantasy sports skills and offers daily games for fantasy football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. Buy-ins range from freerolls to $500.

“There is a social aspect to fantasy sports that you also find in poker. It’s competitive, stats driven and an adrenaline rush. It’s also a great way to make a hobby into something really profitable,” said Wiggins.

“There’s nothing better than sweating out a ballgame knowing one or two key plays can earn you money and bragging rights,” Caby said.

Read the press release for more.

PSA: Watch the WSOP

ESPN’s coverage of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event continues this week with Day-6 action. It all kicks off at 10 p.m. EDT with the final 142 players in the race for the final table. There’s also a feature on doppelgangers this week where pros like Jean-Robert Bellande, Daniel Negreanu, and Jason Mercier will tell you who they’ve been told they look like.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Follow Elaine Chaivarlis on Twitter – @LaneyLV