Last week, we told you about poker superstar Phil Ivey’s lawsuit against London’s Crockfords for the casino’s failure to pay him the £7.3 million he won over two nights at a high stakes punto banco table in August 2012. The UK’s Daily Mail originally reported the story of Ivey’s big score and Crockfords’ lack of payment in October and it was not until this month that Ivey decided to pursue legal action.

Now things have gotten even more interesting. Crockfords, London’s oldest casino, has issued a public retort through the Daily Mail, detailing how it believes Ivey cheated.

While much of the attention of the poker community is currently on the drive of several states towards legalization and regulation of online poker, there are fights that are being waged in some states that might affect live poker games. A recent bill in theOregon legislature is an example of this type of attack.

Writer Harry Esteve of the Oregonian tells the story of a young Portland woman,Rachel O’Neal, who has started her own law practice in the city and enjoys the local card rooms for some Texas Hold’em on her rare off hours. In particular, Esteve mentions that O’Neal frequents the Encore Poker Club, where O’Neal admits she “feels safe” playing the game. Under a bill in the Oregon legislature, however, those games may be outlawed in the state.

The draft of the bill, under the nomenclature of LC 3928, would amend the laws in Oregon regarding what it calls “social gaming.” Those laws, put in place in the 1980s, have allowed for nearly a dozen card rooms to open up around Portland and across the state. One legislator, however, doesn’t see this as what the original law intended and is looking to chop it down.

When it comes to the cinematic portrayal of the world of poker, there have been more misses than hits. For every “Rounders” or “The Grand” that have depicted the game fairly accurately, there have been severe missteps (anyone remember “Lucky You” or the ESPN series “Tilt”?). A documentary that goes into nationwide release tomorrow attempts to examine the draw of the game of poker and, in making that audacious attempt, knocks it out of the park.

Late this afternoon, the official word came from the offices of Nevada Senator Harry Reidregarding the drive for federal online poker legislation: he’s pulling the plug.

With only about one week left in the 112th session of the U. S. Congress (the new Congress will be seated on January 2), Senator Reid issued a written statement regarding the proposed legislation that he had worked on with outgoing Arizona Senator Jon Kyl. “We have simply run out of time in this legislative calendar,” Senator Reid’s statement read. The current Congress only has a handful of bills that have the opportunity to pass and linking a federal measure for online poker regulation would jeopardize passage of those bills.