Poker enthusiasts continue to be heard on the Hill! There was a lot of mainstream media reporting on the possibility of online poker legislation getting attached to the Payroll Tax bill, showing the extent to which our efforts are bearing fruit. The poker community is now reaching out to the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees to ask for inclusion of online poker into the Cybersecurity Act (which is not a reworked SOPA or PIPA – it is unrelated legislation). It is my hope that poker enthusiasts will contact lawmakers for inclusion of poker every time any legislation that appears to have any shot at passage is introduced
Fortunately, PPA makes it easy. Simply visit
and take action! Item #3, the daily action plan which I have discussed in this weekly update many times, is now posted daily on the
, so please be sure to check that out and to participate in these actions.
PPA comes before poker media to take on the tough questions as often as possible. I hope you will find these interesting and informative. This past week’s interviews focused on action on Capitol Hill with the Payroll Tax Committee, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and ongoing actions to advocate for the game.
Upcoming appearance:
- Webcast: “Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny” airs live each Monday at 8:30 PM ET on OnTilt Radio (listen live here).
Recent appearances:
- OnTilt Radio: Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny, with guest Hog Wild Poker’s Greg Friend (2/20/2012) (listen here)
- Short Stacked Radio: PPA Weekly Update, I come on at time point 26:40 of Part 1 (2/17/12) (listen here)
- QuadJacks Radio: QuadJacks News, I update the community on the latest political action regarding online poker and then share my thoughts on a Poker Player Newspaper article regarding PPA (2/14/2012) (listen here)
- Short Stacked Radio: Live from CPAC, I come on at time point 07:30 (2/10/12) (listen here)
Past Interviews:
- Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny, with webcast archive (click here)
- Short Stacked Radio PPA Weekly Update, with webcast archive (click here)
- PPA on Quadjacks Radio (click here)
Questions from the Poker Community
I communicate regularly with players on several online forums under my online handle “TheEngineer” and via phone and
email. Since taking this role last year, I have received several hundred emails and have responded to all of them. I have received several phone calls and IMs as well. Here are a few that are representative of some concerns over the past month:
Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet, and Absolute Poker still haven’t paid us back. Why should I fight for online poker??
I share your displeasure with the current online poker market. As someone with close to five figures locked up on Full Tilt Poker, I certainly empathize with your situation, as do thousands of our fellow poker players. That’s why we’re trying to
fix the problem. The problem is not online poker itself. Rather, the problem is inherent in the current system, as we players do not currently have a mechanism for consumer protection.
PPA is fighting for licensing, regulation, and consumer protection specifically to address issues like the one we players have now with sites that have yet to repay players in the aftermath of Black Friday. The PPA-supported legislation now in Congress focuses strongly on consumer protection. It directly addresses the problems we have seen with those sites by mandating protected and segregated player accounts, a U.S. presence (to allow for law enforcement action if needed), and other provisions to protect our rights as players. Additionally, licensing authorities will certainly take past behaviors into account when determining the suitability of businesses for gaming licenses. In short, I do not personally believe a site that has not repaid players in full could even hope for a license under these bills.
I hope this helps address your question regarding information, at least. Thanks again. I wish you well in recovery of your money.
After the worst beat I’ve ever taken, I might change my support of this issue. Kx2 flops, me with KK. Check to a bet and a cool call. turn’s a 2. I bet, get raised, all in from me and a call. River’s a 2 and the guy turns over A2. I might just quit poker.
I’ve been in hands in live games where beats like that happened…that’s just poker. We do not win every hand. Rather, we seek to get the best out of each bet we make and to win in the long run as a result. Legislation won’t outlaw bad beats, but it will provide consumer protections against bad actors.
As much as I want Internet poker, I won’t support increased government interference via the Cybersecurity Act in order to get it. That is SOPA all over again.
Thank you for sharing your concerns. To be clear, the Cybersecurity Act is not SOPA or PIPA. In fact, it is unrelated (click here for more on the act). That being said, no one is talking about poker players supporting this or any other non-poker bill. The poker community is simply asking lawmakers to attach pro-poker legislation to other bills. Such an attachment would not compel the poker community to support the underlying legislation at all.
We need lawmakers to hear from poker enthusiasts for ALL bills that come forward. Every time any bill gains any steam, they should all hear from us and know that we poker players are demanding our rights.
Thank you for your continued support!
The PPA wishes to keep active members like yourself updated on the latest poker advocacy news by periodically sending out select events and headlines. We hope you find it informative and thank you for your continuing support.
