Written by Thomas Jensen
Saturday, 17 March 2007
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has enlisted a key ally in the "War on Online Gambling", former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato. Senator D'Amato is joining the PPA as Chairman of the Board and will be leading the efforts of the PPA in Washington D.C. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a grassroots organization of more than 160,000 poker enthusiasts.Alfonse D'Amato is a long time online poker player and he has a distinguished 18 year record serving in the United States Senate. Now he is taking his enthusiasm, tenacity and political savvy directly to Congress to produce results for the Poker Players Alliance. This is welcome news to the entire online gambling industry and Point-Spreads.com looks forward to seeing the type of impact that Alfonse D'Amato will have fighting on behalf of our freedoms."We are proud that he has joined our team and we are excited about our prospects to get something done for poker in the near term," stated PPA President Michael Bolcerek."I have had a passion for poker since my childhood, and for politics almost as long. This new position will allow me to fuse these passions and help establish sensible policy that allows Americans to enjoy the great game of poker in the venue of their choosing," said Alfonse D'Amato.Approximately 23 million Americans enjoyed playing online poker in 2006. However, late last year the Republican led congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, making it illegal for financial institutions to knowingly process gambling transactions. "UIGEA has not had the impact it was intended to have," states Christopher Costigan President & Founder of Gambling911.com. "The only thing the new law did do successfully was chase out legitimate and transparent publicly traded companies.""Prohibitions don't work, they only create unintended consequences. The American people know this and we are going to make sure Congress knows it too," said Senator D'Amato to the New York Times. "We need common sense regulation of Internet poker. Prohibition will only drive the industry underground and strip away any protections for children and services for problem gamblers."The Poker Players Alliance will be working with the current Congress to provide a skill game exemption for poker and pave the way for eventual regulation and taxation of the industry in the United States.
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I agree with the legislation which aims to ban credit cards as a payment method for online gambling of any sort... and i think it should be enforced worldwide – not just in America. In fact, gambling with a credit card should be banned full stop. Not just on the internet. It’s a no brainer when you consider you are placing backing the outcome of an uncertain event with somebody else’s money. Chance and credit do not mix well in my opinion, and continuing to allow it would only contribute further in negatively affecting the high levels of personal debt many citizens today find themselves in. I do however, think that the prohibition won't work; or at least it won’t be received well amongst gamblers - I mean what’s the point in banning a credit card payments made on an online poker game, for example, but not online sports betting? Slightly hypocritical no? I mean how can you allow someone to participate [with or without a credit card] in online horse racing betting, but not put any money on a hand of texas hold’em poker? both activities involve a large degree of chance, and neither are guaranteed to yield financial return.
What really infuriates me is that the minority of irresponsible gamblers [those paying with someone elses money!] have now ruined the fun of online betting for everyone else - those like me who pay with money they actually have in their bank!!
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