Overestimating the poker lobby and voting democrat?

[ottsville]

There is a lot of energy in these forums about protecting the game of poker(and internet gambling), but does anybody else feel that many of us are overestimating the strength of the poker lobby?

The PPA's website says that "nearly 80 million Americans play poker." In a country that is just under 300 million people(20% of which are under the age of 15), that means that around 1 in 3 adults play poker. I believe this number is highly optimistic. A non scientific scan of my family and close friends, many of whom are game players and recreational gamblers, shows less than 10% playing poker, with number playing online for money being around 2%. Maybe my circle of influence is different than most, but I still believe that the number 80 million is probably significantly higher than the actual number of people who play poker somewhat regularly(my defintion of "somewhat regularly" would be ~once a month).

As poker players, our current lobby group, the PPA, seems to be lacking. Their site says "Following the House vote to ban online poker the PPA membership has more than doubled and continues to grow," but this article is dated July 27, 2006, quite a bit of time before the current legislation was passed. Despite all the activity that they *should have been* involved in over the past few weeks, the "press release" section of their website's most recent article is July 28, 2006. As a member since they first started, I have gotten very little correspondence from them keeping me abreast of the legislative issues and their actions. I believe I got an email about their recent "phone rally" and one other more recently from them. As a member and a poker player, I am disappointed in their representation of me and the game.

These facts about the PPA along with what I believe to be a gross over-estimation of the number of people who play poker lead me to question the strength of the poker lobby.

As players without an effective lobby group, it would seem that it is left directly up to us to determine ways to defend what is our hobby/sport/livelihood. Many of us feel that we can voice our beliefs in the upcoming congressional elections. One statement that seems to surface in these forums repeatedly is "vote democrat..." to protest the passing of this legislation. That is well and fine, but unless you let your republican representives know why you are "voting against them," you are not really protesting. The democratic party has also shown time that is not against impinging on individuals' rights. Take gun control for instance - a topic that repeatedly is associated wtih the democrats. I encourage those of you in areas with congressional races going on to find out where your candidates stand on the gambling/poker issue and other issues that are important to you.

The current legislation has also been said to be an effort of the religious right. This is definitely one of the groups that supported the current legislation, but also realize that some officials supported it for other reasons. On the website of congressman Goodlatte, one of the sponsors of the original house bill, he states that he wants to ban online gaming because it "makes the economy suffer by draining billions of dollars from the United States and serves as a vehicle for money laundering." This factor seems to be his major reason for wanting to ban it. Perhaps he has some moral/religious reason to oppose online gambling, but that doesn't seem to be his focus. Also, Rep. Goodlatte has accepted donations from the quarterhorse racing association, so I doubt he can effectively argue that his is a moral issue with gambling.

[00's]

I get the impression that the PPA started as an idea for one guy to make some money.. and now he is in over his head.. just a feeling

[*TT*]

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I get the impression that the PPA started as an idea for one guy to make some money.. and now he is in over his head.. just a feeling

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The PPA is not a PAC and therefore cannot legally lobby congress. But then again since the poker sites were all foreign entities they could not lobby congress either, and since they were the greatest source of revenue for the PPA there was no incentive to create a Political Action Committee.

In short, I think your right.... PPA might have been altruistic but in the end its a paper tiger, a sham. Its a shame because we really don't have any other option yet, therefore a PPA investment is better than nothing.

Additionally the PPA made a huge error... instead of fighting for the rights of players they should have been out encouraging regulation and taxation because thats the only way we would have been able to save our beloved game.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

[Lawman007]

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I get the impression that the PPA started as an idea for one guy to make some money.. and now he is in over his head.. just a feeling

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I have the exact same feeling.

[5thStreetHog]

I dont think many here overestimate the PPA at all.In fact i would guess that most here have very little faith in them(read the posts and threads).The view i have is that if they do anything at all(even minimal time they have received on national tv shows),its better than nothing.

[5thStreetHog]

Btw,everytime a republican wants to show that democrats are just as intrusive on are rights they bring up guns.I still have my guns!!!Yes its true,democrats have been behind many pushes to regulate and control gun rights.But the idea that democrats are for taking guns away is a flat out lie,its a tool conservative rebublicans have used for years to generate FEAR.Also,just to let you know,im not a democrat,but i know the trick.

[Asianj]

If PPA will not work, it is up to the Full Tilt crew - Chrs F, Howard L as wellas Mike Sexton, Barry Grennstein, Greg Raymer to pull a organziing/lobbying effort together. They are the smartest, richest, most qualified people to do this. If they will not do it, noone will.

[Asianj]

I agree w the initial poster that these 80m stats are not accurate. However, I also think the actual support base is large enough to be a potent lobby if focussed correctly.

[Uglyowl]

Another day, I just sit here helpless [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I have no idea what I should be doing, I want to help.

I am making a few phones calls per week voicing my displeasure, will vote democrat in a few weeks. Other than that, I am lost.

I am afraid alot of people feel this way. It would be nice if someone was organized to say on Monday and Tuesady we will call x,y, and z. On Thursday we will protest. We are appearing on CNBC this day, Foxnews this day.

Pretty clueless and not liking it one bit. PPA and NROG have informaton that is very old, it is meaningless. No updates on members, etc.

[ottsville]

[ QUOTE ]
I dont think many here overestimate the PPA at all.In fact i would guess that most here have very little faith in them(read the posts and threads).The view i have is that if they do anything at all(even minimal time they have received on national tv shows),its better than nothing.

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I agree that most people here probably look at the PPA with a certain amount of disdain, and rightfully so. More so than that, I question what people here think of the power of poker players as a whole. People here who say "this would never have passed if it hadn't been snuck through" are severely disillusioned. The Goodlatte-Leach bill had already passed in the house. The vote was 317-93...which shows how much support this actually has.

Until there is an organization that is capable of forming a united front and is willing to actively educate and encourage legislators(which is what the PPA should have been doing) online poker will be at risk. Of course, once US companies get approval to run poker sites, that all goes out the window.