The 2+2 Forum Archives: Internet Gambling Prohibition Act : Making Your Voice Heard

I would like to offer these tips when contacting your representative(s) regarding "H.R. 4777: The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act", and have put this in its own thread to get more visibility because I feel this is so important.

1. To find out who your representative is and their contact info, go to www.house.gov and use the form at the top.
2. Also go to www.senate.gov and contact your Senator(s) so that IF this gets through Congress, the Senate knows your opinions, but contacting your representative(s) from 1. is the most important at this time.
3. When contacting your representative/senator, let them know that you consider them your representative (regardless of your political affiliation) and that you expect them to represent you the voter.
4. Ask them where they stand on this subject so that you can make a better informed voting decision the next time they come up for re-election, and make it clear that you will be voting based on this issue (even if you don't vote).
5. Let them know that poker is different from simple "games of chance" in that skill dominates luck in the long run when it comes to poker, and hence, poker needs to be treated differently. Many representative do not understand this and need to be educated.
6. Give them the (correct) impression that modern poker is played more like chess than craps, and that people who play poker these days are good, law-abiding citizens, many of whom are highly educated and intelligent. Let them know that poker players today say "Nice hand" after they lose, and that the Hollywood image of a drunken cowboy with a gun accusing someone of cheating is 100% incorrect.
7. Point out that popular Internet Poker sites are run by legitimate and reputable businesses that are publicly traded on different stock markets and are scrutinized by analysts.
8. Give the (correct) impression that Poker is very popular with the population in general, both young and old, and this can be seen by how popular poker is on TV. Let them know that by further prohibiting internet poker, they would NOT be representing a large percentage of their constituents.

Any other suggestions for dealing with Representatives/Congressmen and women/Senators are welcome, but whatever you do, PLEASE CONTACT THEM AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! It takes just a few minutes and can make a lifetime of differences for poker players across the country. I recommend sending them snail mail as well, but at LEAST send them emails. Almost all have very user-friendly online contact forms.

Edited by PiedPiper (02/17/06 09:37 PM)

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