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Denver — Not long after Congress passed a ban on Internet gambling, PR man John Pappas knew he had to be here at the Democratic National Convention.

Pappas represented online poker players. Their ragtag Poker Players Alliance had been stunned by Congress’ midnight approval of the ban late in 2006.

Internet gamblers had been powerless to block the bill. They were only loosely affiliated. They often knew one another only by their online nicknames.

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The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), now over one million members strong, is taking advantage of the concentration of delegates and members of Congress at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions during the next few days, to continue to lobby for the legalization of online poker, by holding charity poker tournaments to benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

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Washington — Slipped into the 92-page Republican Party platform are two sentences that drive poker players nuts.

In those slim lines, approved in 2004, the party spells out its opposition to Internet gambling — that $15 billion industry that in just a few short years has turned half the guys (and a number of women) you know into poker-playing geniuses.

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A former United States Senator and the Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, Alfonse D’Amato has extensive experience with and insight into both US politics and online gambling. At the opening keynote of the Next Generation in Gambling Conference in Montreal, he offered some insight into how the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was made into law.

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As the chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, Republican of New York, has been outspoken about his distaste for the manner in which Congress has handled — or mishandled — legislation dealing with Internet gambling in the United States.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which Mr. D’Amato calls “preposterous,” kicked off a bevy of bills to counteract its effect. But none has had the success that the gambling enforcement act had in Congress in 2006.

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Yesterday I met with Bryan Kendro, Senior Legislative Assistant to Congressman Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District http://gerlach.house.gov/District/ . I was accompanied by Pete Segal, a PPA member and constituent of Gerlach’s. Congressman Gerlach was one of the “Nay” votes that lead to the defeat of the HR5767 amendment to the UIEGA. If you’re not familiar with this amendment and its purpose, click here.
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