Kentucky Derby hopeful Lawyer Ron is getting much publicity these days, not only because of the unfortunate demise of his owner, James Hines, last week. But also due to the fact that he’s one of the favored to race on Saturday’s Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn.

Bob Holthus has trained four winners of the Southwest Stakes, including Greater Good last year, but none generated prerace publicity like Lawyer Ron for this week’s $250,000 race at Oaklawn Park. The 3-year-old colt has four straight victories — including two stakes — by a combined 30 lengths since he was switched from turf to dirt.

Read more Dead man’s Odds to win Kentucky Derby 2006

The World Poker Tour is extending its poker domination all the way across the pacific. The Philippines is the first Asian country, which now hosts charity poker tourneys under the WPT franchise.

The set-up is nothing different from normal charity poker events, winner gets no cash. But his PhP500,000 (a little over $9,000) will not solely go to his favorite charity. Rather this amount will be distributed to the star’s chosen charity, the local station (ABS CBN) that holds the WPT franchise’s kids charity, and another charity chosen by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

Meaning if you’re a celebrity player and you win this tournament, your favorite charity will only get a measly portion of your winnings.

Legal gambling in this Philippines is monopolized by PAGCOR, all the casinos are Pagcor-franchised. So it’s not surprising that Pagcor should get a piece of the cake for its own charitable mission. Pagcor also publised some ads on newspapers warning peeps against playing in illegal poker games "No PAGCOR seal" is illegal!

In fact, the prize money for the WPT Philippines celebrity event was provided by…

Read more WPT Seduction

Police arrests are not the only hindrance for small poker functions these days, robbers have joined the bandwagon.

Holding a private poker game nowadays has become both restricted and dangerous.

Today you’d consider yourself lucky if the police bust your gaming ahead of burglars who will not only take the pot money but run away with your extra cash and blings, too.

Major Wager reports:

"As poker’s popularity explodes, swallowing basements and living rooms in its wake, the danger also has increased, police say. No one tracks the number of poker-game heists because they are recorded simply as robberies, and many go unreported by hosts fearful of gambling charges. But…

Read more Gold, Guns and Cards

A 52-year-old man from the German town of Darmstadt tried in vain to get a refund for 400 euros ($475) worth of what he said was "bad marijuana" from his dealer before turning to the police for help, according to authorities. [Reuters]

So what do you think happened?

The police charged him, of course, with possessing the dope and confiscated his 200 grams of marijuana! All the man could complain about is that "it is un-usable" and insists that the police help him get his money back.

German authorities do allow up to 30 grams of weed for private pot sessions. But even with that small amount in question, no one would be…

Read more Weed

John McEnroe became the oldest player to win an ATP title after claiming the doubles division with Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman.

The first impression? Boy, John McEnroe looked old: All white hair, spindly legs and soft, spinny serve.

Indeed at 47, McEnroe looked like he’s seen his days at first glance. The ATP victory is his 78th career doubles win, and first ATP final since winning a doubles tournament in Paris with his brother Patrick in 1992.

In his heydays, McEnroe is the tennis player many love to hate, except the fans naturally. These days McEnroe’s hair is grayer, his temper tamer and his opponents more powerful than they were when he dominated tennis more than two decades ago.

"The old dog wanted to teach the young guys new tricks," McEnroe has said. Andre Agassi could maybe pick a few tricks.

McEnroe jokingly said he would take a few months off before deciding if his comeback would continue any further. [CNN]

Well we could sure use the…

Read more McEnroe Anger Management

McDonald’s is in trouble again. Not long after disclosing that their french fries contain milk and wheat ingredients, consumer groups have files a class action lawsuit against the fast-food king for allegedly misleading them.

McDonald’s Corp. faces at least three lawsuits claiming the fast-food giant misled the public after it acknowledged earlier this week its french fries contain milk and wheat ingredients.

Most of the complaints come from consumers wirh gluten-intolerance claiming eating McDonald’s fries caused caused them gastrointestinal problems.

Read more Anti-Fast Food BS

Talk about shoving it down your throat fellas, the cowboys’ supermanly horsebutt-whipping cradle is geting another rockin’ courtesy of (surprise, surprise?) Willie Nelson.

With critics lauding Brokeback Mountain, Nelson thought it was time to release a song about how being a cowboy is soooo gay which he claims has been left in the dumpster for 20 years now.

"Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)" may be the first gay cowboy song by a major recording artist. But it was written long before this year’s Oscar-nominated "Brokeback Mountain" made gay cowboys a hot topic.

Available exclusively through iTunes, the song…

Read more Cheer for the very queer