PPA chairman releases half-year statement

Six months may not seem like a long time, but the Poker Players Alliance has managed to accomplish much in that time according to a statement by Alfonse D'Amato, PPA chairman.

The former Senator issued a letter to PPA members talking about the organization's growth as well as the progress made so far in Congress towards making online poker legal.

"We have accomplished so much in so little time," D'Amato says in the letter. "Our membership has grown more than 500% since the first of the year to over 600,000 members - thanks in no small part to you telling your fellow poker enthusiasts to join our cause."

That drive is helping propel the organization well on its way to the one million member target it has set for itself. D'Amato also asked people to continue to help build that number by encouraging others to join the PPA.

Along with membership support, members of Congress have also stepped up to start moving towards the legalization of online poker.

"We are strongly supporting two of these bills: Congressman Barney Frank's H.R. 2046, the 'Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act' and Congressman Robert Wexler's H.R. 2610, the 'Skill Games Protection Act.'"

IGREA seeks to legalize and regulate online gambling in the United States, setting up a system to license and tax the industry rather than ban it. Wexler's bill is intended to carve out an exception for poker from the online gambling ban because it is a game of skill.

Another bill under consideration is Rep. Shelley Berkley's H.R. 2410, which calls for a study of Internet gambling.

"In all, we have a lot of momentum, but we still need your help," D'Amato said.

The PPA chairman and Wexler were recently at the World Series of Poker where they saw firsthand the growth of poker and asked WSOP players for support.

"They responded in droves, proving that poker enthusiasts are dedicated activists," D'Amato said.

Because the PPA is a membership-driven organization, it still needs more members and more support from those members to continue to lobby for poker players' rights in Washington D.C.

"We know you agree that poker is not a crime, but we need your help to prevent the coming of the day when the law says it is," D'Amato said.

There are several ways to support the PPA including:

• Donations of $5 or more
• Upgrading from an introductory membership to a full membership
• Purchasing merchandise from the PPA store
• For more information, visit the PPA Web site.

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