Back in May, I made Five Easy 2012 WSOP Predictions[http://www. pokerjunkie. com/five-easy-2012-wsop-predictions] just prior to the 2012 World Series of Poker kicking off. With the Main Event now on hiatus until October, I figured it was time to revisit those picks and see whether I hit the mark.

Back in early May, the following is what many were expecting to be the topics of discussion come July 17th: The Octo-Nine Full Tilt owned by PokerStars and players receiving their Full Tilt funds The latest "rumored national online poker bill".

Sam Trickett just tweeted the following a bit over an hour ago. *Sam Trickett*‏[https://twitter. com/Samtrickett1] Was having a great day until 6 guys did this to me. Seriously Wtf? Couldn't be more angry.

Yesterday, the announcement was made that Shuffle Master was backing out of their deal to purchase the Ongame Network. I wish I could say that this surprised me, but when I read the news, it did not. If you would have polled Shuffle Master, or any company related to online poker in December or January about what the state of online poker in the US would be by now, and I think you would have gotten responses ranging from "full legalization" to "numerous states" either having legalized or close to legalizing online poker. It is now the end of June and there are exactly 2 states that have legalized online poker and only one on the horizon with a legitimate shot of doing so by year's end.

When did it become cool for poker players to use overly vulgar terms to describes things that they did to people or have had done to them? Here is my example for the evening. Apparently Corey Burbick is upset because he did not get a refund for not showing up for the $3k. I can understand that he is pissed. I get that and from what I read, I would be too.

I just finished watching Allen Kessler's interview with QuadJacks at the 2012 World Series of Poker about poker players who smoke weed during the breaks of poker tournaments. The video is at the bottom of this post for those that haven't seen it yet. I must admit that I totally side with Allen on this matter and it does indeed boggle my mind that many young poker players go out of their way to smoke weed on breaks. I know some of you think that it helps you play better, but as Allen says, it does not.

We all know that the World Series of Poker has been steadily increasing the number of bracelets they award every year and are about to increase that total even more with the creation of the WSOP-Asia Pacific. The Micros' latest cartoon sums up the insanity of it all in their latest cartoon. I must admit, this one was actually funny.   I want to try 2 to Skip Uno.

Phil Hellmuth finally took down his 12th WSOP bracelet last night by winning the $2,500 Razz Event.   This was going down while the "Tiger Woods of Poker", Phil Ivey, was going after his 9th over in the $10k PL Hold'em Event. In the end, Hellmuth continued to add to his career total while Ivey just missed out.   Thinking about it, if Ivey is the "Tiger Woods of Poker", wouldn't that make Hellmuth Jack Nicklaus? Think about it.

This past Thursday, Allen Kessler tweeted the following: ‏@*AllenKessler*[https://twitter. com/#%21/AllenKessler]Guess whose *banner* magically reappeared at the *wsop*? http://pic. twitter. com/vlxWzZFU The picture tweeted was of the banner of 1994 WSOP Main Event Champion Russ Hamilton.

Every year at the WSOP Main Event, the question is always asked whether you would rather have the money or the WSOP bracelet. Until recent years, the answer was largely "I want the bracelet. " Now it is shifting more to the "give me the $8 Million. " So far at this year's WSOP, two faces that have not been seen at the tables are Tom Dwan and Doyle Brunson.