Who Lobbys for Poker Players--and What Should we Lobby For? |
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Posted Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:13 pm GMT by lwestatbus
This thread stemmed from a recent post on the impact of gamblers on the recent elections AlaskaDude's Post.
Dude pointed to an article on PokerNews.com about the possible impact of gambler's votes on three close elections in the recent cycle, including the two that gave control of the Senate to the Democrats. The article cited 28 million Americans who have gambled online, all of who are (presumably) of voting age and many of whom should be eligible to vote.
To have an effective impact poker votes need to be focused. We essentially need an organization like the NRA {National Rifle Association for our non-US members} or AARP {American Association of Retired Persons} as lobbyist and organizing force. {Both of these organizations have huge impacts on legislative actions.} For example, the NRA publishes information on legislators' voting records and public statements on firearms. AARP does the same with respect to Social Security, etc. We need the same information on poker and an organization that can walk into a legislator's office and say, "We have X voting members in your district who believe that you should vote this way on insert legislation here. Here are our petitions indicating that your vote on this legislation will count when they make their decisions in the next election." How many of us know how our representatives voted on the prohibition?
Second, what exactly should we be asking for? What is the best outcome we could possibly have and what is the best outcome we could realistically hope to have? To my mind the answer to this last question is a regulated card playing industry that makes its money on a rake (as opposed to losing to the 'house'). There is both precedent (California's attitude) and sentiment for treating poker differently from gambling.
Further, if the government moves to allow regulated Internet poker then the door is opened for US companies to participate. This is huge in that this opens the door for well-branded casino powerhouses to enter the market and for Wall Street interest in the operation. Both of these interests bring financial resources, organization, and political savvy and connections with them.
Finally (unless I think of something else), the effort needs to be at the national level. Before Roe vs. Wade {US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortions} abortions were actually legal in some areas but Roe established the policy nationally one time. A federal determination that poker was a game of skill and not gambling might be all that it would take to decriminalize any form of poker, live or Internet, and associated funding activities. This last sentence is uninformed speculation on my part and I would be very interested in informed opinions from others. A national policy would keep us from Balkanizing the US into districts where poker is and is not legal. (Beer drinkers in Texas know what I am talking about.)
So, is there an organization lobbying for legalizing poker? Who is behind them? Have they demonstrated any effectiveness?
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Posted Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:54 pm GMT by Sean_in_NJ
| lwestatbus wrote: | | So, is there an organization lobbying for legalizing poker? Who is behind them? Have they demonstrated any effectiveness? |
Are you ignoring the Poker Players' Alliance as ineffectual, or did you really not know about it?
Posted Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:11 pm GMT by lwestatbus
| Sean_in_NJ wrote: |
Are you ignoring the Poker Players' Alliance as ineffectual, or did you really not know about it? |
Don't know about it. Not meaning to be a smart ass but:
1. How potent can they be if I've not heard of them, and;
2. How potent can they be if the bill passed anyway.
It may be a fine organization and a start but they need to market to poker players and organize. I'm not sure how AARP found me but they did--I didn't go to them.
Again, I'm really not trying to be a jerk about this but effectiveness at this level of operation has to be measured in the ability to deliver political clout. I will check them out, though--thanks for including the link.
Edit: OK. Web site looks promising and has some good endorsements. I'll join today. Any other organizations out there? Is this one sufficient?
Edit #2: I joined up and sent in more than the minimum. Spent some time searching the site and it fell short of expectations. I couldn't find any information on membership numbers (political clout) or on direct lobbying activities. One press release on teaming up with pocketfives.com to encourage 55's 14000 members to participate in a lettter writing campaign. I will contact the organization and encourage them to publicize their activities.
Posted Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:18 pm GMT by Sean_in_NJ
| lwestatbus wrote: | | It may be a fine organization and a start but they need to market to poker players and organize. |
I would direct you to Card Player Magazine, and (oh yeah) the banner at the top of this forum.
In fact, while I personally believe them to be wholly impotent from a lobbyist standpoint, they were the *only* group making a concerted effort to rally the troops.
As for the law passing casting doubt on their efforts, by your own admission, it had to be attached to something bulletproof to actually be enacted.
Posted Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:24 pm GMT by supafrey
Yeah they were shaky, but they were definitely not small. With the support of ppl like Raymer and Ferguson (not to mention, like, all of pokerstars) they were definitely big enough to do some dmg if they wanted to. Lets not even get into idea of how much money they raised for lobbying.. i wonder where all those funds went.
So anyways... yeah it already exists. You not hearing about it is more about you than them - they're pretty established.
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