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The State of Poker Address


2007-01-24 12:28:31
By: Gene Bromberg

Last night President Bush gave his State of the Union Address to the United States Congress and the American people; last night Michael Bolcerek, the president of the Poker Players Alliance, issued his State of Poker address. The PPA has been making the case for online poker to members of Congress even before the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed.

And that lobbying effort continues as the federal government intensifies its assault on the game. As Bolcerek writes:

"The PPA is not standing idly by.  Poker should be exempt under the new law and that exemption is our primary goal.  I have spent a good portion of January in Washington, D.C., meeting with lawmakers and others to get support for legislation that would provide a "skill game" exemption for poker.  We hope to have a bill introduced very soon and then bring to bear the voice of more than 135,000 members of the PPA to push Congress to do the right thing.  This would be a very positive development for the game.  For the past year, we have been on the defensive, but now is the time to go on the offensive and get a bill introduced."

If you play poker and don't want to your right to play constricted any further, you should join the Poker Players Alliance. It doesn't cost anything to join, though contributions would help the PPA's lobbying efforts. Donating a bit of your bankroll to help the PPA fight the government's restriction of your rights is a positive EV move all the way.

There's strength in numbers, and the more members the PPA has the more likely it is that member of Congress will take online poker very, very seriously. Don't think that there's nothing YOU can do to help the game you love in these difficult times. Join the PPA. Write to your Representatives and Sentators and tell them (politely) why you feel so strongly that poker shouldn't be persecuted. And VOTE.

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