400,000 signatures have been forwarded to the White House(credit:
bigberto)
Executive director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) John Pappas has reflected positively on the associations National Poker Week, which aimed to hasten the legalization and regulation of poker in the United States.
The PPA is an online petition against the UIGEA with the following aims; 1) exempt poker from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and 2) license and regulate internet poker in the U.S. 3) Respect the rights of law-abiding Americans who love to play this great game of skill.’
Pappas reflected on the PPA meetings with congress, noting how, ‘Of the meetings, about 35 percent of them were with the actual member of Congress and the others were with staff, which is pretty standard given their availability’.
National Poker Week, which ran from July 18th-25th, involved a charity poker tournament for the United Service Organizations, where the PPA generated more than $35,000 for war veterans. On the tournament, Pappas commented, ‘That night wasn’t about our narrow issue of licensing and regulating Internet poker. It was about honouring the vets’.
It seems that the PPA is scheduling several high profile events to heighten awareness of the need to legalize and regulate online poker in the U.S. Many famous faces have forwarded their names to the petition, including media mogul Howard Stern, Republican congressman Ron Paul and a host of poker pros, including Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch and Chris Ferguson. It is estimated that 400,000 people signed their names on the letter delivered to President Obama.