Former Director of the Poker Players Alliance Michael Bolcerek has returned to the internet gambling industry. The man responsible for putting the PPA on the Congressional map is the new Senior Vice President of Business Development for Aristotle International. The company specializes in, among other things, providing top-of-the-line age verification services. Bolcerek spoke with Poker News Daily about his new role and commented on the PPA’s success.
Aristotle’s software meets compliance standards throughout Europe and includes what Bolcerek claims are effective measures to keep children from gambling on the internet. Other industries that utilize Aristotle’s “Integrity” age verification solutions include movie theaters, online wine retailers, and tobacco vendors. Bolcerek works out of the company’s San Francisco office and told Poker News Daily,
What attracted me to Aristotle was their knowledge of the marketplace and how it fits in with what we’re trying to accomplish in online poker. They have been willing to be active in the United States in order to educate people about the technology of age verification.
Bolcerek commented that he was heading to an industry conference in Barcelona. On his expectations for pitching Aristotle to clients around the world, he noted,
I appreciate the opportunity to be able to talk about age verification and hopefully educate members of the media, Congress, and general public that there are solutions that are being used right now to keep kids off of online gambling sites. I’m working to get more people to sign up for Aristotle and create a standard in age verification.
Many of the foes of internet gambling around the world have been concerned about underage gambling. Other worries include the effects of problem gambling. Aristotle, Bolcerek claims, can help solve both issues: “We have a global self-exclusion database that allows people to exempt themselves. If someone has a problem gambling, he or she can exempt themselves from every site that has signed up with Aristotle.” In essence, once a person signs up as being a problem gambler through any member site, they are registered on each site across Aristotle’s network.
Since Bolcerek departed from the PPA after the organization’s permanent move to Washington, D.C., he has been working on a startup. He told Poker News Daily that he’s pleased to see his former employer’s progress:
The PPA has done a good job in developing its base. [Executive Director] John Pappas has done a very nice job in moving pieces of legislation forward. I hope they’ll have success at the end of the current session or next session. They’ve maintained their pressure on Congress and hopefully it will bear its fruit. I’m proud of what I helped create at the PPA and John has done a great job since then. I hope that poker players keep sticking behind it.
The PPA has grown to include over one million members. It is based in Washington, D.C. and Chaired by former three-term Republican Senator from New York Alfonse D’Amato. Other members of its Board include poker player and author Greg Dinkin, Full Tilt Poker pro Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Card Player Cruises partner Jan Fisher, legal expert Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, “The First Lady of Poker” Linda Johnson, Howard Lederer, and 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Greg Raymer.
