Face it, it’s Friday morning and you’re thinking of two things. First, your fantasy football draft is this weekend and you can’t decide between Adrian Peterson or Arian Foster. Second, you’re trying to figure out exactly what The Situation was thinking last night on Jersey Shore when he decided to go toe-to-toe with Ronnie. Or maybe, you’re just wondering what’s new in the poker world. For that, we present the A.M. SCRAMBLE:

Another Site Leaves the U.S. Market

Following Black Friday the American poker player was left with only a few options. One of the sites to jump at the opportunity to grab market share was Poker Pros Network, a skin on the Cake Poker Network. On Thursday the site announced they were shifting their focus to the European market and were leaving the Cake Poker Network and would be developing their own proprietary software.

“We here at PPN are dedicated to improving our software, creating a safe environment for players to compete, and encouraging our pros to be available to customers at all stake levels,” said owner Chuck Kidd. “It’s been a lot of work, but what we’re introducing later this year should turn the online poker industry on its head.”

Just last month Kidd had told multiple news outlets that his site would be staying in the U.S. as it was not violating any laws.

PartyPoker Hits Pause on New Rake Program

Earlier this week PartyPoker announced a new rake structure that saw an increase on the total raked from most pots. Needless to say the players weren’t exactly impressed by this plan. A few of them went as far as to organize a protest that would see a number of players sit-out during play. The smart folks at PartyPoker got wind of this and have decided to delay the implementation of the new rake structure and may be reconsidering it altogether.

Dan Shak Chairing Charity Event and Pillow Issues

Dan Shak had quite the day Tuesday. First came word that he would be the honorary chair for a charity poker tournament benefitting the James Blake Foundation in New York City just after the completion of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. Then came some issues with his hotel room pillows.

The poker tournament will be held at Las Chicas Locas in New York and will have a $1,00 buy-in with $500 rebuys. Shak and tennis pro James Blake will be in attendance as will a number of high profile athletes and celebrities. First place will be a $10,000 buy-in to a live major poker tournament of the winners choosing. The foundation is dedicated to supporting cancer research in hopes of finding a cure.

Dan Shak didn't like the pillows in his hotel room. With good reason.

“Only been divorced over 2 years and my hotel surprises me with initialed pillows I’ve been here alone 10 times since then is it tomorrow yet?”

A few minutes later he posted another picture with only one pillow on the bed. We’ll let you guess if it was the pillow of the guy working with charities or the one who was recently featured in multiple outlets for having a large shoe collection.

ESPN Inside Deal Talks Epic Poker League and Phil Collins

ESPN Poker Insider Andrew Feldman is on vacation this week but that doesn’t mean that the Inside Deal doesn’t go forward. Host Jon Anik and analyst Bernard Lee talk all about the very first Epic Poker League event and Phil Collins discussed what he’s doing to get ready for the WSOP Main Event final table. Go ahead and watch:

New Gig for BLUFF’s Own Jessica Welman

Fear not Welman-aholics, Jessica Welman is staying at BLUFF. We are however very proud though as Welman, BLUFF’s Managing Editor, is now also the Live Updates Hostess for WorldPokerTour.com. If you’re not following the updates from the WPT Live Updates team then you’re missing out on how the best in the business operate. With Welman now hosting the video interviews with players and personalities throughout the day things are only going to get better.

The entire staff here at BLUFF congratulates Jessica on her new role and wish her the best of luck!

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