For the past several years, one of the fixtures of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) has been the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). The one million member lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C. once again hosts a booth in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas this year, spreading the gospel to the thousands of poker players and fans attending the 2010 WSOP.
On Tuesday, banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions were required to comply with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was passed into law in 2006. Last November, officials from the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve granted the industry a six-month delay in compliance, but no such reprieve came this time around. In addition, a petition from the PPA to exempt peer-to-peer games like poker from the UIGEA’s regulations was not acted upon despite gaining support from Democrats and Republicans alike.
PPA Executive Director John Pappas, who had just landed in Las Vegas to scope out the 2010 WSOP, told Poker News Daily via phone, “There is a possibility that our petition could still be granted even though the enforcement date has come and gone. I wouldn’t put it as a high likelihood, but we haven’t heard from the Treasury.” Government officials have 180 days from the date of filing – April 11th – to act on the petition.
Membership Director Bryan Spadaro has been the main point man for the PPA in Sin City and told Poker News Daily that the organization has had conversations with about 70 players per day, on average, about its mission, the status of bills in Congress, and the June 1st UIGEA compliance deadline. Of those 70, about 20 have signed up for the PPA, meaning that the organization stands to grow its membership base significantly over the next six weeks.
Despite compliance of the UIGEA’s regulations finally coming to fruition after four years, the PPA has vowed to keep fighting. Pappas explained, “We need clarification at the federal level of these laws. Our mission is unchanged. We’ve always wanted to prevent the UIGEA from being a catastrophic event, which I think we’ve maybe succeeded in. We also want to establish a licensing and regulatory environment that U.S. players could play under.”
In New Jersey, a bill permitting online gambling passed through a Senate committee, the first step towards becoming law. The PPA has reservations that the bill, which was passed by a 3:1 margin, could result in low player turnouts online if casinos like Trump and Harrah’s launched their own rooms. Pappas remarked, “I think the players would prefer to play on the sites they’ve already been playing on. It would be simpler to have those sites partner with the licensees in the state.” Union, New Jersey Democrat Raymond Lesniak is sponsoring the bill.
Beginning next month, new Florida poker regulations will allow the state to expand the game’s size and scope significantly. Florida native and PPA supporter Michael Mizrachi has already taken down a WSOP bracelet and leads the Seven Card Stud World Championship after Day 1. The PPA has served in an advisory role to officials in Florida, who presently enforce a $100 buy-in limit on cash tables. Pappas admitted, “The PPA has been really involved in the Florida effort. It doesn’t have a lot to do with internet gaming, but rather with people playing in card rooms.”
Interested poker players can stop by the PPA’s booth at the Rio to learn how to win a 2010 WSOP Main Event seat and a brand new Apple iPad. In addition, the organization is offering patches similar to the one Mizrachi wore when he claimed his first WSOP bracelet earlier this week.
Visit ThePPA.org to learn more.