Are you coming to Washington D.C. for business or personal travel? If so, let us know and we can help arrange a meeting for you with your U.S. Representative, Senators or their staffs. You will be accompanied by one of PPA’s professional lobbyists and all materials such as talking points, bills, etc. will be provided by us. All we need is your passion and your voice to demonstrate to lawmakers that real Americans care about this right. Please give us at least two weeks advance notice so we can have the best chance at securing your meeting. Let us know if you will be in DC by emailing
[email protected].
PPA Spotlight: Dan Brown
The PPA would like to welcome our newest State Director, Dan Brown. Dan lives is Wakefield, MA, and will serve as the volunteer Massachusetts State Director. In this role, Dan will be responsible for monitoring poker-related issues and events thought the state, alerting the national PPA office to emerging trends or issues and leading the PPA activities in the state. Dan has over 25 years in law enforcement and has worked in the gaming and poker industry for the past ten years.
“We the People” Poker Petition to President Obama
Directions on how to sign the “We the People Petition” 
We the People is a new addition to the White House website that allows Americans to petition the Obama Administration on a range of issues. Per the site, “if a petition gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it is sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response.”
The site is getting a lot of traffic, so you may get either a “site is under maintenance” or a “404 not found” message. Just try it a few times and you’ll get through. Even with this slight delay, it should take only a few minutes to complete:
- Go HERE and click “CREATE AN ACCOUNT.”
- The site will send a confirmation email. Click on the link in that email to continue.
- Click “? SIGN THIS PETITION” to vote (if you are not redirected automatically, go HERE to vote). (Please note that even if you sign the petition you can voluntarily exclude yourself from receiving emails and information from the White House.)
- Send a prefilled, editable Twitter message to invite others to sign this petition HERE.
Deficit Super Committee Outreach
The United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is made up of 12 members of Congress — six representatives and six senators, with equal representation from Democrats and Republicans — who have been tasked with developing a bipartisan plan to reduce the federal deficit. The plan will be delivered to the full Congress and President Obama by Thanksgiving.
Let’s all take a few moments to visit the super committee’s website
HERE to send the super committee members our recommendations. Below is a sample letter that you can edit or cut-and-paste as-is into the message field. Or, better yet, write your own. This is another great opportunity for us to demonstrate support for our position.
SAMPLE LETTER Dear Honorable Joint Select Committee Members,
HR 2366, the Online Poker Act, is a bipartisan bill that, should it become law, will create thousands of jobs while providing up to $40 billion in new tax revenue for the federal deficit over the next ten years — without raising taxes. It also mandates strong consumer protections and effective age verification.
Former FBI Director Louis Freeh and former Secretary of Homeland Security, Governor, and Assistant District Attorney Tom Ridge support federal online poker licensing because it addresses control of cash flows and mandates consumer protections, while WiredSafety concluded that “combining a thoughtful regulatory scheme with education, technology tools, and support appears to be the most effective means of handling the realities and risks” of online poker.
Licensed U.S.-based horse race wagering sites have proven that online betting sites can successfully implement strong consumer protections while creating American jobs and generating revenues for our government. It is time to allow online poker sites the same opportunity.
I respectfully ask that you seriously consider recommending sensible licensing and regulation of online poker within the U.S. in your deficit reduction report to Congress and the President.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Add your name here
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Let’s ask the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to support legislation for online poker in the U.S. As this is the committee that has jurisdiction over HR 2366, it is important that we ALL ask them for a hearing. It will take you just thirty seconds!
- Send a prefilled, editable pro-poker Twitter message HERE.
- Verify that your Twitter account is not set to “private”.
- Try to wait at least an hour (but send prior to that if necessary), then send another Twitter message HERE.
- Like the FB page HERE (you can unlike when done with these actions if you wish), then like the pro-poker comment HERE.
- Return to the main page HERE to post and like pro-poker comments. [Speed tip: Hit CTRL-F for search, then search for "poker" and "2366". Use "highlight all."]
App Spotlight: PokerNearMe
The PPA from time to time comes across tools and apps that we believe would benefit the poker community and PokerNearMe™ is just such an app.
PokerNearMe™ is a great new FREE tool for poker players. PokerNearMe™ is the best way to find legal, live poker games near you . Locate rooms, cash games, tournaments and major events based on your current location or set a new location to find poker when you travel. PokerNearMe™ also gives you easy access to the latest poker world news and PPA press releases.
Their iOS app and website contain detailed information about 650+ rooms in the US and Canada, 2000+ cash games, 2500+ daily tournaments (or 300,000 tournaments over the next 12 months) and major tournament events. They listen to player feedback to keep data accurate and implement new features .
Download it from the iTunes store at: itunes.com/apps/pokernearme or visit their website for more information: www.pokernearme.com. Be sure to register at www.pokernearme.com/home/register for access to future member only features and the latest PokerNearMe™ news.
The PPA wishes to keep active members like yourself updated on the latest poker advocacy news by periodically sending out select events and headlines. We hope you find it informative and thank you for your continuing support.
The PPA has learned that the U.S. House of Representatives’ 
For the past few days the PPA has attended and participated in two of the largest annual conferences of the gaming industry. On Sunday, the PPA helped to arrange a keynote speech delivered by Congressman Joe Barton, author of the Online Poker Act of 2011, at the International Association of Gaming Advisors in Las Vegas. Influential gaming attorneys, industry executives and key state and tribal regulators crowded the room to hear Congressman Barton deliver a candid view on the prospects of federal legislation. In short, he expressed optimism that a deal could be struck over the next six months and that several opportunities will present themselves in which to include Internet poker legislation. First and foremost being the newly created Deficit Super Committee which will need to make recommendations to Congress before Thanksgiving. Further, Congressman Barton said he believes his bill (H.R. 2366) will be given a hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the coming weeks. This is welcomed news and provides us a great forum to explain the merits of appropriate regulation in a public setting. Please stay tuned for more information on the exact timing of a hearing on Joe Barton’s H.R. 2366. 
