There is huge turmoil in the world of online poker after three of the world’s major online poker sites were shut down by the FBI last Friday, 15 April, now labelled Black Friday in the online poker community.

US federal prosecutors filed an indictment charging the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, as well as nine other individuals, of operating illegal gambling businesses. Federal prosecutors also filed a civil lawsuit of $3 billion in money laundering penalties, accusing the online poker companies of disguising the money they received from US poker players as payments to non-related online merchants such as jewelers and golf ball suppliers.

The PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.com internet domain names were seized to stop the companies from operating in the US, and a federal judge enforced a restraining order against 76 bank accounts in 14 countries that are connected with these online poker companies.

The accused poker operators have maintained that they were not violating US laws, and that poker is a game of skill and not gambling, but have not commented since last Friday. Some legal land-based casinos have been in the process of setting up lucrative deals with these online sites. These deals will no longer go ahead.

The indictment still maintains that PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker “…used fraudulent methods to avoid restrictions and to receive billions of dollars from United States residents who gambled” and “…deceived or directed others to deceive United States banks and financial institutions into processing billions of dollars in payments”.

The above-mentioned online poker companies are not run in the US but are estimated to have made over $1.4 billion in revenue from US players.

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A new study from Rice University, the University of Toronto and Purdue University has found that the more you have to suppress emotions while at work, the more it affects your health – adversely.

Many people have to keep their feelings hidden while at work. Journalists, health care professionals, social workers, lawyers and law enforcement officers have to keep their feelings bottled up while on the job and the findings from the study imply that this may leave them without the necessary energy to complete their important tasks efficiently.

Daniel Beal at Rice University stated:

"It takes energy to suppress emotions, so it's not surprising that workers who must remain neutral are often more rundown or show greater levels of burnout. The more energy you spend controlling your emotions, the less energy you have to devote to the task at hand,"

This means that neutral displays of emotion could take more energy for emotional suppression and less energy for the actual task at hand.

Jonathan Duhamel evolved into Canada’s very first World Series of Poker main-event champion, knocking out John Racener to recieve the $8.9 million 1st award.

Duhamel received the No-Limit Texas Hold’Em world championship following approximately two hours of heads-up play that commenced yesterday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The 23-year-old Duhamel, ran over to a group of pals wearing Montreal Canadiens hockey jerseys following the winning hand and was raised into the air in succesion. He then been given a diamond-encrusted gold bracelet in onjunction to the leading prize, which was piled on the table in stacks of $100 bills.

The head-to-head final capped the $10,000 buy-in event that initiated in July with 7,319 participants. Nine avid gamers advanced to the ultimate table, with seven being eliminated during a 13-hour session that was completed early on the morning hours of Nov. 7.

Duhamel majored in finance before dropping out of the University of Quebec in Montreal. He’s been a full-time poker pro -- mostly online -- for about the last two years, earning $43,000 in WSOP events before today’s payday.