Poker Player Alliance Heads to Washington
US poker players take the fight to Washington this week as the 2 year old lobbying group Poker Players Alliance plans on being on Capitol Hill pressing Congress to consider the new bills trying to gain momentum to exempt poker from the new UIGEA or regulate the gambling industry in the United States.
Representing close to 800,000 poker players across the U.S., the PPA has thrust itself to the fore front with its leader John Pappas and chaired by former New York Sen. Alfonse D’Amato. This year the organization has spent $640,000 lobbying in Washington as compared to $540,000 in all of 2006.
Though legal to play poker online, the UIGEA passed last October makes it illegal for banks in the U.S. as well as U.S. credit card companies to process any payments made to online gambling sites outside the U.S.
The PPA is flying over 100 members and several poker champions to lobby lawmakers this Tuesday and Wednesday. They are trying to get poker exempted from the law which already exempts lotteries, fantasy sports and online horse races.
John Pappas also pointed out that his group also backs a bill that will regulate online gambling. The idea is to place a small tax online poker companies that in the long run net the U.S. government a couple billion dollars in yearly revenue.
