John Papas, the PPA executive director addressed the poker community in a short video posted in the PPA website and in Youtube.
In the video Pappas points out that although the six month delay of the UIGEA was a great accomplishment, it has put more pressure on all poker advocates to act for the speedy license and regulation of online poker in the US.
Currently legislative efforts focus on Rep. Barney Frank’s HR2267 bill. According to Pappas, the previous hearing on the bill, held shortly after the UIGEA was delayed, had been extremely successful, with great support for the idea of license and regulation of online poker. He expects that another hearing and a vote on HR2267 will be held in the coming weeks, probably in February.
“This is a very critical and important vote for the Poker Players Alliance as well as the poker community and we need every one to step up and make sure that their voices are heard.” Says Pappas. “This will be the first time ever that there will be a vote on license and regulation of internet poker and internet gaming in general.” He adds.
In preparation for the hearing and the vote, he calls upon all members of the community to make an effort to promote the bills ideas. “In the past it has always been votes to prohibit it, and those have passed with overwhelming margins. So we need to make sure that the chance that we have to license and regulate it also passes with overwhelming margin” explains Pappas.
This video is only the beginning of the PPA campaign for the promotion of HR2267. Pappas urged his viewers to stay tuned for further instruction on how to work on behalf of the legislative effort.
