November 27th, 2013
By Poker Players Alliance
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Weekly Update from Rich Muny, VP of Player Relations
Last week, I shared with you the news that Venetian Resort, Hotel & Casino parent Las Vegas Sands Corp. and its CEO, Sheldon Adelson, have significantly escalated their efforts to ban online poker (and online casino gaming as well) at the national and state level. Adelson has set aside tens of millions of dollars for this quest. And, unlike other efforts to ban online gaming where the primary focus was on casino-style gaming, Adelson is specifically including online poker in the crosshairs. This is a real threat to our game that we must take very seriously.
While this new anti-online poker coalition will not officially go live until early next year, we are already feeling the impact. Late last week, USA Today ran an editorial recommending that Congress ban online poker (and online casino gaming), calling it a “bad bet.” Worse, the editorial was virtually 100% aligned with Adelson’s position, where they did not even consider that states like New Jersey and Nevada should have a right to decide for themselves if they can allow online poker in their own states.
USA Today ran responses from the American Gaming Association (here) and PPA Executive Director John Pappas (here), at least, but this surely shows our need as a community to be sure we are all doing our part to win the fight.
PPA and the poker community stand at the ready to fight this fight. Will you do your part to ensure its success?
Q&A
I answer many questions on Facebook and poker forums every day. Here are a few recent ones you may find of interest:
Q: We should encourage Adelson to spend as much money as possible on his Internet gambling crusade. Hey it worked well when he spent over 100 hundred million dollars backing Newt Gingrich for President. Hopefully he spends his billions fighting a losing battle. Internet gaming is here and is not leaving now.
A: That would actually be the worst thing. Many Congressmen have tough primaries coming up and will need donations for their campaigns. Adelson will have their ear, as money is the lifeblood of campaigns.
The primary and general elections you mention were not decided in Congress. They were decided by elections, where Adelson’s main weapons were media relations and advertising. He has additional weapons to bring to our fight, unfortunately.
Our fight is largely about getting politicians to support us. You can expect Adelson to do some very heavy-duty lobbying. We could even see litmus tests on this issue. We need to ensure we are toe-to-toe with him in this fight.
Q: What would happen if a solid amount of pros and amateurs just stopped playing the Venetian and took their action elsewhere? It’s hard to believe Adelson wouldn’t feel the effect of that.
A: In my opinion, we should not patronize the Venetian or any other Las Vegas Sands property on general principle. I will not, and I hope you will not either. However, even if successful, it would not move the ball by itself. We would really want that energy focused on the political and media fight.
Q: What about Adelson’s objection to online poker due to not being able to make sure only geographically eligible people use a site? Shouldn’t we bring up the fact that The Venetian has a partnership with a company that provides Internet gaming to anyone in Nevada? Not just for those in The Venetian, but for anyone in Nevada.
A: One of last week’s daily action plan items was to tweet USA Today and Forbes with this info. I think it is wise to show this.
On the other hand, I did get a reply from someone who thought the partner in question was getting thrown under the bus. My response was that the partner and we have the same problem right now and that’s Adelson and his crusade. Still, we should be a little careful, I suppose, so we don’t look like we’re going after the partner when the exact opposite is the case.
Q: PPA should have paid state directors in each state. I think PPA is missing an opportunity.
A: I wouldn’t say PPA is missing an opportunity. After all, we are simply the result of the efforts of the community and have limited resources. If everyone who cared about the game shipped funds to PPA or toward any other effort in support of poker, we would see a lot more activism in return. The same goes for volunteerism. A 50 state effort is expensive. We all need to donate to the cause for it to continue to grow and expand.
Q: Regarding Full Tilt Poker remission, there is only a certain amount of money that has been allocated to the players’ claims. Should the amount of claims exceed the amount available, players will be paid as per their calculated basis. My question is… How can payouts be made to players with non-disputed balances without figuring out how much is owed to players with disputed balances? I believe payments would all have to be done together.
A: That is a very good question. You are correct…that would typically be the case. However, as the available funds exceed expected claims, we do not have that issue. And, as the bar date has passed, the Department of Justice and Garden City Group can now review any petitions that would cause claims to exceed the funds available (for example, if someone submitted a frivolous billion dollar petition). This will allow GCG to process undisputed petitions in parallel with the process of reviewing disputed ones.
If you have a question, please email me, post it on a poker forum, or post it to Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you!
Florida Update
On November 15th, Florida State Director Donna Blevins spoke on behalf of Florida’s poker players and enthusiasts at the public workshop held by the State Senate and House Gaming Committee. This workshop was held to discuss the draft Florida Gambling Impact Study. The study is currently 784 pages (approximately 12MB).
Donna was one of 40 advocates presenting their case to the committee. She spoke about the importance of licensing and regulation of online poker in the Sunshine State and the advantages of compacting with other states that offer licensed and regulated online poker.
Join PPA
Annual PPA Membership is the smartest bet for the future of our game. Join today for only $15 to receive the great benefits of membership and to help us continue the fight for our rights as poker players!
Webcast: Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny
The Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny webcast airs live each Monday at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on OnTilt Radio. For this week’s show, I was joined by poker blogger Diamond Flush. We discussed online poker in New Jersey, Sheldon Adelson’s coalition to ban online poker across America, and Full Tilt remission.
If you missed the live webcast, I hope you will listen to or download the free podcast and check it out. It is available as a directly downloadable MP3 file (right-click to save, left click to listen) or as a free iTunes download.
Each show features great guests and the best discussion on poker legislation. Please be sure to tune in next Monday evening for our second anniversary webcast! We will be live with PPA Executive Director John Pappas for the Season 3 premiere.
Social Media
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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.
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The Poker Players AllianceDedicated to Protecting America’s Favorite Card Game The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game and to protect poker players’ rights. Visit us at theppa.org
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