Promoting a "campaign of terror" is going to make us look like douches. If it did anything, it would make our opponents work harder to shut us down.

DO NOT DO THIS!! Seriously, I've been in politics since I was in elementary school and this will do nothing but hurt our cause. If you want to get your point across....send letters every week to the representatives that you think will listen. Then in the middle of those weeks, also call their offices to ask "Hey, did you get my letter." It's about due diligence and CONSTANTLY getting in contact with them. These are very powerful people that will NEVER EVER take kindly to threats like that OR to things that LOOK like threats.

GL and God bless :-)

I love your take charge attitude, and the twisted mailing campaign is intriguing. But I really doubt that your dark approach would net the results we'd like to see.

Everytime I think about this issue, my mind goes to one question. What is it about online poker that the world should care about? Then my mind goes blank. Face it, there really isn't much. You can talk liberty and potential tax revenue and unenforceability and big brother all day long. But the fact is only poker players care about poker rights.

One thing that online poker could do, to stir up positive publicity, is to take a worthy charity by the hand and GIVE! The one thing that poker players have to give is the one thing a charity really needs. I remember the generosity of the poker community toward Katrina victims. Charity tournaments were held on a number of sites.

I know that none of us really enjoy playing in mtt's with excessive vig, but this is something we can do to make our presence known in a positive way. If we organize on-line charity tournaments with modest buy-ins, hopefully some of our poker celebrities would participate occasionally, rub elbows with the masses, and promote the cause.

The important thing is that we pledge, as poker players, to tax ourselves and give to a needy cause. These charity tournaments would have to be regular and well-attended. We would have to be giving on a regular basis to make a difference.

When we make a meaningful contribution to something, we can say, "See poker isn't a bad thing. In fact, without poker these people would really suffer!"

Maybe if we all took a cue from Barry Greenstein we could save ourselves and do some good in the process.

To be fair I gave an <air finger quotation> around "terror". Yeah not very "scary" I know. But you and I both know it doesn't matter what a lot, or even a majority of people think SHOULD happen. It's who has the most money and influence. I'm probably a pessimist but when you look at our current situation in Iraq, it's not about the VAST majority of americans who think we should take our lumps and pull out, it's about those who have the most MONEY to lose or gain.

I'm just at a loss of what to do. I'd like to live in a fairy tale world where my AA hold up and my congressman gives a $hit what I think, but I'm not aware of that planet.

Just another radical thought, maybe we should try BRIBERY or BLACKMAIL! If you read the news on a daily basis, I know that works EXTREMELY well. My case in point the D.C. Madam who is about to sell her 10,000 person client list to raise money for her criminal defense. That has EVERYBODY in a $hit Fit in Washington DC.

Sorry to rant, but honestly I think our cause has about 3 or 4 outs at most. And to make matters worse, the brick and mortar casinos where we play are probably against our position too, unless of course they are able to get online gambling regulated in the US which I liberally estimate is about one out.

Maybe if the PPA put up a $1,000,000 reward for credible proof of an opposing congressman or senator who was having an extramarital affair, we might get a faster response to our issues.

Just thinking out loud.

5oon3r_L33t

I now realize I MUST be a complete pessimist after reading the post about the charitable tournaments. GREAT idea, but I think we can combine our ideas.

We should hold charitable tournaments to raise money to bribe/blackmail our "elected" representatives.

Trust me this WORKS. If you think I'm wrong think of how many congressman are reporting to jail for accepting bribes.

Money Talks!

5oon3r_L33t

OP, is your title a reference to the greatest movie of all time UHF?

Call me crazy, but i LOVE this idea. It just makes a statement, plain and simple. It's an idea that the laziest of the lazies can accomplish. 54 stamps, 54 addressed envelopes. It says "WE'RE WATCHING YOU". Combined with the media, i think it's brilliant.

I'm all for charity tournies, but if you think the government is gonna go...."oh looky there, they give money to charities! Let's repeal the whole law!" You're kidding yourself. They could give a shit. All they want is money. That's why the PPA hired D'Amato. He knows the palms to grease. If all it took was stating our case, it would have been a done deal already. It will take a while, but it will get done.

Well the chairty tournaments wouldnt have anything to do with politicans repelling the law. The charity tournaments would be used to give more money to the ppa so they can flex their muscle more.

The reason why horse gambling is still illegal online is because its one of the largest and most well funded lobbying groups in america. There is without a doubt enough poker players in america that if we all do our part the PPA can and will be just as large and as powerfull as some of the other big boys in the lobbying world like horse racing and guns.

Maybe we should all msg the owners of this site and convince them to hold a monthly tournament on say stars or something where a portion goes to the ppa. I think the tournies would be pretty damn successfull and its a win win situation, you can win money playing a game you love but at the same time we would be helping the ppa greatly.

I just emailed UB support regarding hosting a regular tourney to benefit the PPA. I suggested in my email that perhaps it would be in their best interest to match or donate the fee from this tournament to the PPA as well.

I'll get back to you on their response when it arrives. I'm not sure what kind of payout structure would be conducive to getting people to play on a regular basis. My thoughts are a low buyin perhaps $10+1 with 2 dollars from the prize pool and with luck 1 dollar from the fee contributed by UB. In a 300 person tourney this would represent a $900 per day donation to the PPA.

Thanks to all the optimists for looking to the good that we can accomplish, maybe by just playing the game we love. However, I think this WAR needs to be fought from different fronts. Our opponents didn't play fair, when they snuck this legislation in. I don't see any reason why we can't play hardball right back at them using any means at our disposal.

I'm still not off the blackmail idea either. I still suggest that the PPA or another group should raise money to find "dirt" on our opponents and use that to weaken them politically or drive them from office altogether. Sometimes at the poker table you need to be patient and sometimes you need to be aggressive. You don't use one of these measures exclusively, but you adjust your tactics depending on the situation. If there is anything poker has taught me is that any battle is fought in different ways some of which may seem contradictory but always with the goal of winning.

5oon3r_L33t

The fight to get ridiculous U.S. Alcohol Prohibition laws repealed took 13 years. The fight for the survival of online poker is still in its infancy. As George Bush has stated, we must stay the course and not cut and run and not give up until the job is done. It is important to keep fighting for online poker and not get discouraged.....we have far more than 3 or 4 outs in this fight....

you make good points greggrr. Politics aside i think we should all donate to charities just because. Just living in america is a huge luxury compared to people in other parts of the world.