PPA and fact sheets

[BluffTHIS!]

I see in various threads requests for fact sheets from the PPA, and indeed on its website the PPA does list talking points and expanded talking points . However I think what is being asked for is a handout that can be included with letters to congress and such. Perhaps there is such a handout on the site but I haven't seen it, other than Sklansky & Shoemaker's article.

It seems to me that such a one page handout, printed up slick and professional brochure format, would a very good accessory for members. I would suggest something similar to what I have written below, which I think sums up most our arguments:

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What Poker Players Believe and Want

*Personal Rights and Personal Responsibility

Poker players believe that:
<ul type="square"> -others don't have a right to impose their moral values on us when we don't harm others (Puritanism);
-others don't have a right to "protect us from ourselves" (Nanny-state-ism);

and especially that we should not have our rights violated in a manner that is hypocritical:

-others aren't limited in how they spend *their* money to prevent them from spending too much (predatory creditors lending to "shopaholics");
-many forms of gambling are allowed such as lotteries and even casinos in the several states already, so why punish poker players wishing to play online? We should not be the whipping boys and girls of other vested gambling interests, nor dependant on brick &amp; mortar casinos that don't really care about poker but only banks of slot machines;
-unproven dire claims against online gambling are based on hidden agendas of imposing the values of certain groups onto others;
-if you say you believe in property rights then that implies believing in the freedom to spend one's own money as one wishes.[/list]

*Reasonable Safeguards

Poker players believe that there should be reasable safeguards both online and in physical cardrooms to:
<ul type="square">
-insure underage persons can't play;
-implement anti-fraud prevention measures;
-help problem gamblers.[/list]
And we believe that it can be proven the technology currently exists to do the above. However we do not believe in unreasonable limitations on our playing, unless others are also limited in how much they can spend on other activities like shopping or entertainment events.

*Skill Matters

Poker players believe *and can prove* that poker is primarily a game of skill, though one with a strong element of chance. In the long run however, it is skill that primarily determines results, and this is mathematically provable. So Poker IS different, as are a few other forms of competition on which money is wagered. And we are wagering on our own play and not the games of others as with sports betting.


*Significant Tax Revenue is Being Lost at All Levels of Government

Poker players believe that we should be responsbile citizens who pay our taxes. But without the fullest legal recognition of our ability to play both online and in physical cardrooms, the governments at all levels will lose and are losing, significant revenue. Studies show this to be true and how much could be taken in by government when our rights to play are fully protected.


*What We Want

What we poker players want is simply the ability to play either online or in brick and mortar establishments, and thus spend our money as we choose, and on a game whose results are determined primarily by skill in the long run.

President Lincoln said it best:

I believe each individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other man's rights.


It's our money and we should be as free to spend it on activities, with proper safeguards, as others do on differing activities.


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I think something like the above, available in printed form from the PPA or by printing out a printer-friendly version from the website, would be a good accessory for letters and personal meetings. The only point I left out was the prohibition doesn't work thing, because you then have to both prove it, and also because it equates bans on poker playing with bans on drugs, etc.

Perhaps it would also be helpful to have brochures explaining the current legislation and the WTO situation. Note that I am not proposing an aid to being lazy and just always submitting form letters, but rather something short and memorable and polished looking that legislators and staff can easily digest and refer to.

[Uglyowl]

I would like to see a factsheet that counters the most common arguments used against us including that poker is already illegal.