John Pappas has become the vice president of government relations
for the Poker Players Alliance and the first permanent employee in the
group’s Washington, D.C., office.

He had been a consultant for the group through his previous position
as associate vice president of Dittus Communications. “It is obviously
an issue that I have known and followed the politics and policy of for
nearly two years now,” he said. And, he acknowledged, he enjoys playing
the card game occasionally.

In his new position, Pappas is charged with coordinating the
lobbying and grass-roots efforts to get the game licensed and regulated
in the United States. “Any time you have a chairman of a committee
introducing legislation, then it will be an interesting issue and get a
lot of attention. I want to be part of that,” he said.

Before he went into the private sector, Pappas was communications
director for Rep. John B. Shadegg (R-Ariz.); that experience made him
an attractive hire, said the alliance’s president, Michael Bolcerek.

The alliance plans to keep working with Dittus Communications. Last
year, the Federalist Group lobbied on behalf of the alliance, spending
$540,000 for the year.

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Author Contact Info: Aoife McCarthy, Politico