American Players Continue to Fight for their Right to Play Poker

The US government pulled the plug on online poker more than a year ago with the events of Black Friday but American poker players are looking to get back in the game. Poker Players Alliance is a group comprised of over one million members who are actively fighting for their poker rights. “There's a significant reason to believe Congress should do something this year. It's our No. 1 priority, that there are strong consumer protections, so our members can go to a site that is safe and secure, and they can deposit their money and get it back when they want it. Those things aren't guaranteed right now,” said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance. “It's an open question whether someone could open a U.S.-based poker site that accepts real money,” Mr. Pappas said. “There's a real problem. Right now, there are still about 2,000 offshore websites accepting bets from 10 [million] to 15 million Americans every year for playing poker,” Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., president of the American Gaming Association (AGA), said in a comment to The Washington Times in an interview this week. “We need a federal statute that will legalize just online poker. These offshore websites don't care about consumer protections, don't care about underage gaming and don't care about people who can't gamble responsibly.” There have been a series of Congress members submitting proposals to legalize online poker. Rep. Joe Barton said, “Internet poker isn't a crime. It is a game of skill, and it shouldn't be outlawed.”