Let's Organize

[1p0kerboy]

Guys I really think we need to organize and try to protect the game that we love.

The game has given us all so much. It's time to give back.

There is too much talent and brilliance in a lot of people here to not use these resources to our advantage.

We might not be able to make a difference; but then again you never know. Maybe we can at least go down swinging.

There are many things we can do:

-let the legislators know that we have a significant voice and vote accordingly
-inform the recreational players as to what is happening
-get our message out through media outlets
-inform the general public that poker is a skill game

and plenty of other things.

There are numerous ways for us to raise money:

-poker tournaments
-dontations

Who would be interested in something like this?

We can probably get a lot of support and free advertising from a lot of places.

[Sparta45]

I've written my senators and congresspeople in the past. I don't really have any ideas for you, but I will be interested in any ideas you or anybody else has. Count me in on anything I can do to help.

[addictontilt]

some time ago - I contact full tilt about running a tourney to fund either a PAC or a 521, they were up for it, so the funding is there, I reserved blog space also for a PAC, I would be willing to be involved as much as I can be

IMHO - the 521 or he PAC was the way to go, problem is , I do not know how to set either up, and I don't have the time to run it

[Uglyowl]

I don't have time to organize something, but I am more than happy to help in anyway.

Let's start with some small very targeted campaign and build from there.

[Sparta45]

[ QUOTE ]
some time ago - I contact full tilt about running a tourney to fund either a PAC or a 521, they were up for it, so the funding is there, I reserved blog space also for a PAC, I would be willing to be involved as much as I can be

IMHO - the 521 or he PAC was the way to go, problem is , I do not know how to set either up, and I don't have the time to run it

[/ QUOTE ]

What is a 521? What is a PAC?

[1p0kerboy]

Okay.

The first thing we need to do is to get the word out to members here.

I would like to see *TT*, UglyOwl, Microbob, and everybody else on board.

The second item is to come up with a name for our group. Any suggestions?

The third is to find someone willing to draw us up a website. I know a good web designer who would be willing to do this for a lost cost.

[1p0kerboy]

Once we get a base group together, we can begin assuming/assigning positions and responsibility.

We're going to need a treasurer. This needs to be a very trustworthy person.

We're going to need a board of directors to make decisions.

[addictontilt]

521 - Think "swift boat veterans"..or "moveon.org" as i understand it - it is a political org that can run advertisments either for or against legislation or candidates.

PAC - These things can directly hire lobbyists, donate to congresspeople, and in general send money to congresspeople.

Problem with a PAC was that all contibutions are tracked -- heavily and only U.S. citizens can donate up to either 5k or 10k I think (not sure)

Problem with a 521 - cannot directly fund congresspeople

Thoughts? had some good discussions on this back in november, but nothing ever got going

[1p0kerboy]

PUPP- People United to Play Poker

[Sparta45]

[ QUOTE ]
I've written my senators and congresspeople in the past. I don't really have any ideas for you, but I will be interested in any ideas you or anybody else has. Count me in on anything I can do to help.

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay. I do have an idea actually.

We all know that the more money and the more people who are behind what we want, the more likely we are to achieve our goals. There are a ton of people behind what we want and there is potentially a lot of money behind it as well. But our organization is in chaos.

Therefore, what I think we need to do is organize and communicate better. We all know the PPA has achieved nothing. However, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are an honest organization who really does have our best interest at heart. I think we need to ultimate funnel our efforts through the PPA. In theory, they already are in Washington, so it would make the most sense to funnel everything through the PPA since they have the infrastructure in place. I think we should form a new forum on 2p2 called "Poker Players Alliance". The mods of this forum will be in charge of:

1) Having contacts at the PPA who they get information from about what they need, events they are holding, meetings with senators, etc. Lots of people visit 2p2. Nobody visits the ppa website. So using 2p2 as a means to get information out to the masses makes sense to me.

2) Regularly organizing online poker tournaments to raise money for our cause.

3) Forming alliances with major online poker sites such as pokerstars, fulltilt, etc to offer incentives to their customers to join the PPA.

Comments, critiques??