Ladies and Gentlemen,
Notice what is going on in the Indiana PPA state room? They are mobilizing because of the lack of state leadership. With no activity in the Ohio room in almost 6 months, aren’t we in the same boat? Let's get this thing going for Ohio online poker rights and let's create change in the home poker laws. Who's with me?
I am, but man is it dead in here.
Michigander here - PPA may have a million members, but I think there's only a dozen that have looked at the forums.
My name is Dave Howard. I'm in Cincinnati. Today I applied for the State PPA Director position. I play at Argosy, Belterra and Horseshoe in Indiana. I also play the Cincinnati Reds Charity Tournament every Dec in Cincinnati, and at church festival tourneys all summer long. Whether or not I'm chosen in Ohio, I plan to post to Craigslist, Twitter, and other online places, as well as get the word out offline. I will post here my activity to get this board up and rolling. Stick with me and help me out here.
Originally posted by: 513Dave
My name is Dave Howard. I'm in Cincinnati. Today I applied for the State PPA Director position. I play at Argosy, Belterra and Horseshoe in Indiana. I also play the Cincinnati Reds Charity Tournament every Dec in Cincinnati, and at church festival tourneys all summer long. Whether or not I'm chosen in Ohio, I plan to post to Craigslist, Twitter, and other online places, as well as get the word out offline. I will post here my activity to get this board up and rolling. Stick with me and help me out here.
Thanks for standing up for our right to play.
Yesterday, I sent the following email to 4 State Senators/Representatives in Ohio, that represent my area. I took a bit of a different tactic, since casinos in Ohio keep getting shot down in voting by the religious right. Let me know what you all think about the idea.
Good day,
My name is David Howard. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio and am a computer network engineer for the largest IT consulting firm in the world. I am also an avid poker player. I play in charitable tournaments (as for the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund every year in December), I help organize some of the tournaments or volunteer to deal at some of them, I travel to Indiana to play in the poker rooms of the casinos there. I agree that casinos can sometimes lead to a poor environment in the neighborhood, and I'm not particularly for or against them. I will, however, offer the following comment: Go visit Lawrenceburg, Indiana and see how "bad" Argosy casino has made that town (I say that in jest, as that town has blossomed from the tax revenue of the casino). Now, I'd like to get to the point of why I'm contact you directly.
In many areas, full casinos are not allowed. However, card rooms are allowed. These card rooms exist for the only purpose of playing poker. No blackjack, pai gow or other casino type card games are played there, and no other type of casino games are played. These places attract businessmen, blue collar people, male and female. There was a time when poker had such a seedy image. Those days are gone. Now, there are multi-million tournaments played in many areas of the world, and college students, housewives, computer geeks, retirees are just a sampling of those who have embraced the game.
My letter is intended to ask you to look at writing/sponsoring a Bill that legalizes card rooms in the State of Ohio. Poker isn't some game of chance. While a certain amount of luck is involved, the primary method for someone winning in poker is their skill level. You never see someone "just get lucky" over the course of three days to win a multi-million dollar tournament. If they cannot calculate the odds/percentage of winning, the probability of what their opponent has in their hand, or the ability to read a player and make a move to "bluff" that player will not last long.
What also makes card rooms different from full fledged casinos are these:
- Card rooms take less space to develop. Many empty store fronts/retail properties could be rezoned for this use
- Card rooms do not attract the addicted type of gambler looking for his next big score, usually. In order to win at Poker, you must have the patience to play an extended period.
- Te tax revenue that could be collected on a State, County and local level could be the saving grace for some of these municipalities with financial crises. Lawrenceburg, In doesn't have a tax crises like Cincinnati does, and they are less than half our population, yet their revenues exceed ours. Why? The casino.
I'm not asking you to just take my word for it. Yes, I know some conservative, religious types will throw their weight around trying to pursuade you to not do this. All I ask, is that you look to the majority, conduct some polling, something. Most people are not apt to speak out. The ones that do speak out are usually in the minority, feel threatened about something and try to intimidate or infuse fear into a situation. There is a silver lining with poker card rooms, and that lining could turn to platinum. Just Hamilton, Butler and Clermont counties alone would make such a difference, with players not having to drive to Indiana to play poker legally. You are aware, of course, there are many illegal games going on. Why not bring these to the light, and let everyone benefit. The government gets their piece, and can regulate the industry, while the players can play in the open in Ohio and enjoy their activity.
I would welcome the opportunity to speak with each one of you individually, and ask for an appointment so that I may bring in a multi-page proposal, outlining some basic ideas to this proposition. I ask that I get to meet with you in person, rather than a staff member, and I will be succinct, polite and to the point. I realize your time is valuable, but as a resident of Ohio, I'd like my voice to be heard.
Sincerely,
David Howard
I agree with you about Poker rooms in Ohio. When I go to casinos I usually go right for the Poker Rooms. Casinos in Ohio would be nice but I would be happy with legal Poker Rooms if we can't get casinos. In the Flats area of Cleveland they run Charity Tournaments at the Nautica Complex. If they allow this why not a Legal poker room that is regulated by the state. It makes no sense to me
I'm in Ohio.
Southern Tip, Portsmouth area.
I love following this stuff, and have stayed as active as possible. I would love to help all I can, and would even apply for the state director position. Unfortunately I am only 20 with little experience, so I doubt I am what they are looking for. Regardless, I am looking to help any way I can.
Originally posted by Schwallie
I'm in Ohio.Southern Tip, Portsmouth area.
I love following this stuff, and have stayed as active as possible. I would love to help all I can, and would even apply for the state director position. Unfortunately I am only 20 with little experience, so I doubt I am what they are looking for. Regardless, I am looking to help any way I can.
I encourage you to let PPA know of your interest. Visit /volunteer .
Dave
Yo man hows it going sorry haven't posted lately but Hey I never heard back on the state director gig either.
for all the action in southern ohio check out http://www.tristatepokerevents.com
Ive run this site for 6 years covering Festivals Charity events and casino action.
I am a certified member of the TDA. I dont get paid and dont charge members I host and do it all for the love of the game.
I play Festivals, Charity events 1/3 and 2/5 at Hollywood Belterra and Horseshoe.
I send out a newsletter to members when there are events that week. I also used to have a radio show that is about to be on the air again.
I applied for the directorship the last 2 years Hell lat year I made more posts than the state director.
I figured I'd be a shoe in with the above background and having Matt Savage on Speed Dial.
But Hey there's always next year
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