[miksnake]

It is estimated that there are somewhere between 40 and 70 million US residents playing online poker and we should assume the vast majority of these people are over 18 years old. There are approximately 186 million registered voters in the U.S. or approximately 64% of the population (this includes everyone under 18 as well, so the percentage of over 18 year olds that are registered is higher). So, if we assume that 70% of the poker players are registered voters, there are between 28 and 49 million registered voters playing online poker--that's in the neighborhood of 15% to 25% of all registered voters play poker online.

That's some serious voting power and if vocal could deter any politician looking to get elected or re-elected to reconsider their position on online gaming.

So, efforts need to be directed at getting online pokers players to unite in voting out any politicians looking to crush online gaming through legislation and supporting any politicians who are in favor of legalizing and legitimately regulating the industry. It would be nice if the poker sites would lead this effort. If you had the top 10 poker sites getting petitions signed and joining together with their players' support behind them, the politicians would listen.

The poker sites have A LOT of money and A LOT of players. It wouldn't take much for them to scare some politicians with a few commercials, millions of signed petitions and a few one-on-one meetings with candidates.

That's how you stop these cowardly riders from ending up on defense bill legislation.