April 30th, 2014
By Poker Players Alliance
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Weekly Update from PPA
PPA Testifies in Pennsylvania Today!
Today, the Pennsylvania House Democratic Policy Committee is holding an informational hearing to discuss the future of Internet poker and other forms of Internet gaming in the Keystone State. PPA executive director, John Pappas, has been invited by the committee to provide expert testimony. As you know, Pappas has testified before numerous state legislatures as well as the U.S. Congress explaining why lawmakers should support legislation that responsibly regulates Internet poker. Click here to read Pappas’ submitted testimony.
Pennsylvania is taking a serious look at regulating Internet poker and other forms of gaming. Believe it or not, the state is the second largest gaming state (by revenue) just behind Nevada. In the coming weeks the Pennsylvania Legislative Assembly will release a report they commissioned to analyze the potential impact of online gaming in the state. Once this report is released the push for legislation will likely accelerate as the state seeks to keep pace with this growing industry.
The hearing begins at 10am ET, Thursday, May 1 and will be available via web stream at: http://www.pahouse.com/mediacenter/PAHouselive.asp
PPA’s Open Letter to Lock Poker
Last week we released a letter that PPA board members sent to Lock Poker seeking information from the company about repayment of player funds that have been significantly delayed. If you’ve been a loyal reader of the PPA weekly update you will know that since February, the PPA has been alerting its members about concerns with Lock Poker’s business practices and its treatment of their customers. The PPA Board members who took last week’s step of issuing public correspondence to Lock Poker did so for many reasons, and we are glad we did.
Our first and foremost reason for issuing the letter was to directly address the concerns of PPA members. In recent weeks many of you have asked that we formally attempt to make contact with Lock Poker on your behalf. Second, we believed that a formal inquiry was needed to generate more public awareness about the deficiencies of Lock Poker, even if the company ignores it (as it so far has). Since only a small percentage of PPA members and the online poker community regularly visit poker forums where the issues of Lock Poker have been discussed, our formal inquiry was designed just as much to spread the word to all players about the extreme risk of depositing on Lock Poker as it was to actually get Lock Poker to address their issues. In our letter we laid out very clear reasons why any player should avoid playing on this site and we hope that our message reached players who were otherwise unaware.
Finally, our letter was intended to put on notice everyone who continues to serve as a marketing affiliate for Lock Poker that their continued support of the company is clearly no longer acceptable to the player community. We strongly urge any company or website that continues to promote Lock Poker to cease their arrangement with the company until its customers are paid what they are owed. Taking such steps at this time is the right thing to do to show that the poker community will not tolerate an online poker site that is unresponsive to players’ financial rights.
We have heard from many of you thanking the PPA for the letter, especially since this is not a traditional role for the organization. As you know, our advocacy efforts are focused on advancing legislation that will appropriately license and regulate poker and Internet poker across the U.S. It is our firm resolve that the result of these efforts will one day be an online poker marketplace truly accountable to the players; a marketplace where rogue sites can be held directly and legally responsible for their actions. We view this to be our primary mission and we appreciate the support and activism of the poker community as we promote these principles in Congress and in state capitals across the country.
Conservative, Free Market Groups Tell Congress to Oppose Online Gambling Ban
On April 28th ten conservative and free market organizations sent a letter urging the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to oppose bills introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffettz and Senator Lindsey Graham. The PPA applauds these organizations for taking a stand against the effort to expand the Wire Act and prohibit online poker and other, select, online gaming nationwide. PPA executive director praised the letter and stated, “We hope other groups will join the effort to protect the freedoms of individuals by allowing states the opportunity to provide poker players with a safe and regulated online gambling environment through clear laws and strong enforcements, while adding benefit to their state through increased revenue and jobs.”
New PPA Branded Hand Re-Player App; Download It Today!
Announcing a new way to share your poker hands with your poker friends and fellow PPA supporters! Share My Pair App, the only hand re-player that allows you to share experiences from live games has launched version 2.0. With a great new feature that allows it’s users to associate themselves with a poker league or organization like PPA, Share My Pair allows poker players to communicate in a whole new way. Now you can share your love of the game and support for your poker rights at the same time! This simple and fun app is available for download through the iTunes App Store and Google Play.
Simply download the app and select Poker Players Alliance from the group menu option, it’s that easy!
Webcast: Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny
On this week’s webcast, Rich was joined by PPA executive director, John Pappas to discuss last week’s Internet poker hearing in California, the upcoming hearing in Pennsylvania and the federal fight against Sheldon Adelson’s online gambling ban. It’s a terrific discussion that you won’t want to miss!
- Directly downloadable MP3 file (right click to save, left click to listen)
- Free iTunes download
Poker Advocacy with Rich Muny airs live Monday at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on OnTilt Radio. Each show features great guests and the best discussion on poker legislation. Please be sure to tune in at www.ontiltradio.com each week for the live show.
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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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