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On Tuesday a number of poker advocates and advocacy groups will be descending on the nation’s capital as the House Subcommittee for Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade –which is part of the Energy and Commerce Committee—will begin hearings on HR 2366 which was introduced earlier this year by Representative Joe Barton (R-TX).

Going by the verbose name of “Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening of UIGEA Act of 2011″ the bill seeks to carve online poker out of the UIGEA legislation passed in 2006, designating it as a game of skill.

Among the speakers scheduled to appear before the sub-committee will be former Senator and Poker players Alliance Alphonse D’Amato as well as FairPlay USA’s Parry Aftab, a Consumer Safety Advocate who specializes in children and cyberspace.

You can usually get a good read on where each Congressperson stands on the issue based on their lines of questioning to the expert witnesses, so many are looking at Tuesday’s hearing as a good indicator of whether or not online poker has any chance at legalization in the near future.

Barton’s bill is seen as online poker’s best chance since Barney Frank (D-MA) lost his chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee when the Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives in 2010. Since the chairman of each committee decides what matters will be broached, any bill introduced in the House Financial Services Committee is basically DOA, as one of online gaming’s greatest nemeses is now chairing the committee, Spencer Bacchus (R-AL).

It’s no secret that PokerStars is the largest online poker site in the world, a title they’ve held since the demise of PartyPoker’s U.S. operations in the mid-2000s. To give you an idea of just how big PokerStars has become, the site recently announced that they’ll be dealing their 70-billionth hand within the next week.

At a site known for treating their players very generously, this obviously calls for a big promotion. Over $750k will be given away to players involved in real money cash games leading up to hand number 70 billion, and the player that receives the historic hand will receive at least $70k of his or her own.

PokerStars has gotten into the habit of celebrating milestone hands on a regular basis, offering promotions every time 5 billion more hands are played. The site has already announced plans to unveil an especially rich promotion for the 100 billion hands milestone, though exact details are obviously secret at this point.

The 65 billion hand promotion took place in July, when “yllams” of New Zealand received $68k for receiving the 65-billionth hand. PokerStars proved that even the lowest-stakes players can get in on the action, as yllams was playing at a six-max cash game table with stakes of 10 cents / 25 cents. You can imagine his shock when he won the promotion, likely expecting a bankroll swing of no more than $10 when he started his session.

For the 70 billion hand promotion, PokerStars will be awarding players starting with hand number 69,700,000,000. Every millionth hand after that will come with a cash prize, potentially worth thousands of dollars, until hand number 70 billion.

PokerStars has issued a few basic tips to those who wish to increase their chances of winning money through the promotion, such as playing longer sessions and multi-tabling as many tables as possible.

Move over Chris McClung – there’s a new chip leader at the 2011 edition of European Poker Tour San Remo.

Day 5 of the PokerStars sponsored event began with 24 players and ended with a final table of 8, with a day that was short in comparison to previous ones. When the chip stacks were tallied for the evening, Daniel Neilson of Australia held the lead with 6.7 million. Neilson closed out the day in grand fashion by personally eliminating Johnny Lodden of Team PokerStars Pro, making Lodden the final table bubble boy.

Neilson scored a minor cash a few weeks ago when he finished in 45th place for 13k Euro at the EPT London Main Event. While that performance was no doubt impressive, it pales in comparison to the 800k Euro he stands to win if he takes the title in San Remo.

Former chip leader McClung started the day strong with around 3.15 million chips. While his super-aggressive style paid off in the earlier days of the tournament, it came back to haunt him on Day 5. McClung was at the losing end of several heads-up battles before finally hitting the rail in 14th place.

Much of McClung’s chips went to Kevin MacPhee, who remains in the tournament with over 1.1 million chips. MacPhee’s stack would be even higher if not for a battle with Dimitar Danchev, who is also still in the runnings. In a key hand, MacPhee showed K-10 offsuit for a straight, but it wasn’t enough to top the full house that Danchev completed with his A-Q offsuit. Danchev holds 4.4 million chips, a distant second to Neilson.

Other final table contenders include Barny Boatman, Rocco Palumbo, Andrey Pateychuk, Yorane Kerignard and Jan Bendik. Notable eliminations included Elio Fox (23rd), Mike McDonald (18th) and Lex Veldhuis (15th).

In comparison to previous days, Day 4 at the European Poker Tour San Remo Main Event was brief, with a field of 64 runners breaking down to just 24 within 7 hours. Chris McClung closed out Day 3 as the overall chip leader, and he repeated that performance on Day 4. McClung now holds just under 3.15 million chips, approximately one million more than the current second-place contender.

Joseph Cheong previously lead in the event, and it looked like he could become the frontrunner once again in the early levels of play on Day 4. In a heads-up showdown, McClung held Q-7 suited against Cheong’s K-K. Cheong took a terribly bad beat when the board delivered another king along with a flush for McClung. Cheong had pushed all-in, and he hit the rail as a result.

Vanessa Selbst of Team PokerStars Pro was eliminated as well when her A-K suited went up against the Q-J suited of Alessio Isaia. Isaia scored two-pair on the turn, ending Selbst’s title hopes. Her teammate John Duthie was sent packing shortly thereafter when his A-6 suited ran up against the A-K offsuit of Christopher Williamson on a garbage board.

Johnny Lodden and Lex Veldhuis, also of Team PokerStars Pro, remain in the runnings with solid stacks of 1.2 million and 877k, respectively. Other pros remaining in pursuit of the title include Alessio Isaia, Mike “Timex” McDonald, Kevin MacPhee, Barny Boatman and Elio Fox, winner of the recent WSOPE Main Event. McDonald and MacPhee are considered especially dangerous given that they’ve both secured EPT championships in the past.

The final table will be decided today at the Casino di San Remo. Time will tell whether McClung can capitalize on his momentum and take home the title.

The 2011 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event is now over, and poker pro Bob Chow emerged victorious to take down the $393k grand prize in addition to the coveted gold championship ring. A total of 1,615 players entered the event, a new record for WSOP Circuit Main Events, creating a prize pool worth just under $2.4 million.

Eric Crain was the chip leader on Day 4, in which the field was already stripped down to 20 runners. He’d eventually go on to finish 4th for a prize of $140k. The initial pace of play was furious, with noted pros such as Dominic Fosco, Everett Carlton, Chris Wallace, Pawell Andrejewski, Mark Kroon, Luther Lewis and Bryan Dillon hitting the rail within the first couple hours of play.

Kroon is perhaps better known for his success in the online poker realm, where he goes by the handle “P0ker H0.” He was eliminated by Edward Pham when he brought K-J offsuit to showdown against 9-9. A 9 on the flop nearly spelled his demise, though he was four to a flush with spades. Hearts came down the turn and river, sending Kroon to the rail. He received just under $22k for his 16th place finish.

Bob Chow held the chip lead going into the final table, though he faced stiff competition from the likes of Aaron Steury, Joe Hebda, Dan Harrington, Erik Roussakis and others. Shawn Quinn and Harrington were eliminated first, followed by Drazen Ilich and Joe Hebda.

Finally, heads-up play began between Aaron Steury and Chow. Steury had the momentum and the chip lead, holding 21 million against Chow’s 11 million. Chow gradually chipped away at Steury’s stack, and eventually Steury pushed all-in preflop with 5-4 offsuit. Chow held J-3 offsuit and scored two-pair on the 8-6-3-J-A board. Steury received $244k for his runner-up finish.