The State of Poker: 2007

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I'm a member of the poker players alliance and just recieved this email.

The State of Poker
By Michael Bolcerek, president, Poker Players Alliance

Last night, in an annual tradition, the President of the United States
addressed the Congress, his cabinet and our country on the state of
the union� and the goals of the government for 2007. Not
surprisingly the president did not include the state of poker� among his
crucial national issues. Thus, I would like to take this moment to
provide an update on where poker sits today and examine how you and the
Poker Players Alliance (PPA) can continue to work together to preserve
and protect the game we love.

As we know painfully well, poker has come under vicious attack over
the past year. We continue to learn on a regular basis about home and
tavern poker games being raided by law enforcement and how charitable
Texas Hold 'Em tournaments are being shut down. Perhaps even worse,
we have seen the federal governments full force efforts to curb this
American tradition from the Internet. Legislation aimed at
prohibiting you from funding your online poker accounts passed the U.S. House
This summer, then was quietly slipped into a port security bill, literally
in the dark of night, which was signed into law on October 13. During
these troubling times, the PPA has given you a voice to express your
opposition to the governments intrusive actions and to rally in a
united fashion against these constitutional incursions.

The impact has been jarring, as the largest, publicly traded online
poker operators shut down services to U.S. players. While many
reputable sites still offer services to U.S. players, recent actions to close
down payment processors and to subpoena banks are clear indications that
the federal government is aggressively pushing the online gambling
prohibition.

We dont have to tell you that a prohibition wont work, and in
fact will likely cause many more problems than it aims to solve. The
unintended consequences will soon be apparent and all the good intentions
of protecting children, helping problem gamblers, and ensuring the
integrity of financial transactions will be lost as rogue sites and
unregulated payment methodologies surface to replace the trustworthy operators the government is driving out of business.

The PPA is not standing idly by Poker should be exempt under the
new law and that exemption is our primary goal. I have spent a good
portion of January in Washington, D.C., meeting with lawmakers and others
to get support for legislation that would provide a skill game
exemption for poker. We hope to have a bill introduced very soon and
then bring to bear the voice of more than 135,000 members of the PPA to
push Congress to do the right thing. This would be a very positive
development for the game. For the past year, we have been on the
defensive, but now is the time to go on the offensive and get a bill
introduced.

This year we will also be taking the issue directly to Members of
Congress in their home districts, to truly nationalize the debate. We had
a tremendous response from our members about becoming PPA grassroots
representatives on the state and regional levels. Soon we will be
announcing our positions across the country and engaging U.S.
Representatives and Senators where they used to feel safe from facts and spirited debate.

While we are working toward the short-term goal of a poker exemption,
the PPA will also be laying the foundation for the eventual U.S.
regulation of online poker. This is the only proven public policy for
online gaming. Licensing, regulating, and taxing online poker is
technically feasible and the sensible and fiscally responsible thing to do. We
will be working with others in Washington to move Congress in this
direction.

Finally, we not only rely on your active participation but also on
your active support to achieve our goals. Our new site now offers no
cost introductory annual memberships. Please help us build our
membership to enable us to deliver a full house to Congress and stop further
threats to our game. Tell your friends, family, and fellow players to
become members of the PPA. We also offer an ability to upgrade your
membership from introductory to full membership and beyond. Our new and
improved Web site, www.pokerplayersalliance.org, gives you tools and
information to help our cause, as well as make it easier for you to
donate to the PPAA

2007 will be an important year for poker. With your help and
continued support we are optimistic that poker will remain a great American
tradition.