After President George W. Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006, many online casinos and card rooms closed their doors (and servers) to players from the US. While the UIGEA bill was aimed mainly at online casinos, it also made it difficult for US citizens to play poker online. The bill was criticized for many reasons, but perhaps the loudest voices speaking against it were those of poker players and enthusiasts from all over the US.

These American poker players have made some strong points. Most importantly, they claim poker is a skilled game, and should not be considered a game of chance. They believe people have a basic right to play poker wherever and whenever they wish, without being prosecuted by the long hands of the law. After all, poker has been a favorite American pastime for centuries.

In order to get these messages across to their elected politicians, American poker players and enthusiasts gathered under the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). With the soaring popularity the game has gained in recent years, they hope they can use the PPA to make their voice heard where it counts most. Their main goal is to influence Washington legislators to overturn the UIGEA bill, and free poker from government intervention.

The Poker Players Alliance was founded in 2005, and it gained much attention and popularity after the UIGEA bill passed in 2006. The PPA now boasts over 800,000 registered members, and is growing every day. A nonprofit organization, the PPA depends on the support of its members for taking action to ensure the freedom and safety of both online and offline players. According to their mission statement, they aim to ‘speak with one voice to promote the game, insure its integrity and protect the right to play poker’. But how do they plan to achieve such a challenging goal?

The PPA puts most of its weight on political advocacy. They aim to create a strong pro-poker lobby in Washington, hoping to influence legislators and other public officials in favor of their cause. They also call out to each and every member to ‘deliver positive messages about the game and why it should be protected to federal, state, and local elected representatives’.

Alfonse M. D’Amato, a former Republican senator from New York, currently serves as the chairman of the PPA. During his days as a senator, D’Amato, an avid poker player himself, used to host a weekly poker game in his office at Capitol Hill. His partners to the poker table included many influential political figures, including lawmakers, staff members and lobbyists. D’Amato said in an interview to CardPlayer magazine that ‘what really needs to happen is to have a legitimate house, a fair game, and a fair operator, and not take away from 20-plus-million citizens who play poker the opportunity to play poker on the Internet’.

In the mean time, the PPA has promoted many pending legislations that, if passed, will protect the rights of poker players in the US. Here are some of the main pending bills, and what they aim to accomplish:

• Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act - a legislation that ‘would establish a regulatory and enforcement framework to license companies to accept bets and wagers online from individuals in the U.S., to the extent permitted by individual states.’
• Skill Game Protection Act – a legislation that would regulate playing of skill games for money over the internet. According to this bill, skill games include games such as bridge, mah-jong, backgammon, and poker.
• Internet Gambling Tax Act – a bill that would regulate and enforce taxation of online gambling activities.

Visit the Poker Players Alliance official website to learn more. 

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