By
Dan |
Published
Oct 25 2007, 04:05 PM
Turning on the television Wednesday night, I ran across a news story on Fox concerning the
Poker Player’s Alliance Fly-In Event that concluded earlier that day in Washington, D.C. Poker pro Howard Lederer and PPA Executive Director John Pappas were interviewed by Sinclair Broadcasting, who owns the local Fox affiliate, breaking down the events from Capitol Hill. Around 100 members of the PPA converged on Washington to promote a common interest – online poker. Backed by a star-studded cast of lobbyists and poker pros, the Average Joe met with his local Congressman about the issue.
Pappas comments on the three-day event: “I think it was a tremendous success. We met with nearly 50 members of the House of Representatives and Senate. We made a very strong impression and earned supporters along the way. We’ll see an increase in the number of co-sponsors of the various bills in the coming days.” This is by far one of the most adventurous campaigns the PPA has ever attempted. It received national media attention from a fleet of reporters and cameramen, all documenting the online poker players who decided to get active.
Members of the PPA from Alaska to Maryland trekked to the nation’s capital on Monday for the beginning of the conference. Tuesday morning saw a complete session on the art of lobbying. Pappas explains, “Went over the do’s and don’ts of the Congressional meeting. We specifically went into the types of things they should ask and the types of points they should raise. People had a level of comfort going into the meeting. One of the other things we told him is that sometimes you’re not going to be able to meet with the member; you’ll be meeting with staff. 90% of the work in Capitol Hill is staff-driven. Congressmen have crazy schedules. They have hearings, votes, and other meetings going on and to get them nailed down in their office at a specific time is difficult, but we had a lot of success.”
Each attendee was joined by one of the PPA’s staff or a poker pro in their Congressional meeting, so no one had to go it alone. According to Pappas, this increased each member’s confidence during their time with Congressmen or their staff: “Every reaction I’ve gotten is extremely positive. A lot of people went into their meetings with low expectations and left with high expectations. I think they were really amazed by our ability to schedule these meetings and coordinate the event.”
Already, the fallout from the Fly-In Event is taking shape: “We’re going to build on the momentum from this conference and understand that there may be a hearing in the Judiciary Committee in the next few weeks. They may just be looking generally at the online gambling issue as opposed to any one bill.” That news would make the entire conference worthwhile.
In the background of the PPA’s event was the issue of wrongdoing at Absolute Poker. Pappas says the events at AP manifest the need for regulation: “I think it is a strong argument for what we’re promoting, which is regulation. We believe that the fact that a handful of poker players were able to discover this discrepancy is evidence that it can be regulated.”
As the membership of online poker’s main lobbying arm grows, now is the time to make sure you’re onboard. Not a member of the PPA? You should be. Visit the PPA website and get yourself registered for free by clicking here.