PPA Launches “Fight Back” Campaign During Congressional Recess
Key Takeaways
  • The PPA is encouraging poker players to reach out to their federal representatives while Congress is in recess. This presents an opportunity to meet with members of Congress in their districts.
  • As part of this campaign, the PPA is providing tools to make it easier for players’ voices to be heard. A new section of the PPA website provides a step-by-step guide to schedule an appointment with your Representatives and Senators.

The Poker Players Alliance is asking poker players to fight back against efforts to ban online poker in the US.

The latest push to liberate online poker comes in response to legislation recently introduced by US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) that would amend the Wire Act of 1961 to expand its prohibition beyond sports betting to include all online gaming except horse racing and fantasy sports.

The PPA is encouraging poker players to reach out to their federal representatives while Congress is in recess. This presents an opportunity to meet with members of Congress in their districts.

As part of this campaign, the PPA is providing tools to make it easier for players’ voices to be heard. A new section of the PPA website provides a step-by-step guide to schedule an appointment with your Representatives and Senators. There are also instructions on attending a public appearance by your lawmakers, visiting their offices, sending emails and engaging them on social media.

The move to ban online gambling is being driven by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who vowed to “spend whatever it takes” to ban online gambling under the guise that a ban is the only way to protect consumers.

The proposed legislation has many opponents including the Democratic Governors Association, the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) and The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

“We have learned time and time again throughout history that prohibition is not the solution for protecting consumers and actually does more harm than good,” said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA. “We cannot stand by and allow for misguided legislation to reverse the incredible advancements we have made in consumer and player protections and the ability of the individual states to determine whether to regulate online poker.