Sat, 04/02/2011 – 02:33 – PokerPages Staff

Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas revealed that the Washington State Poker Lobby Day held in the state earlier this month was a huge success.

Key figures from PPA headed to Washington in the hope of convincing lawmakers that the gambling law passed in 2006, which classed online poker as a Class C felony, was unsustainable.

“We accomplished a lot and the feedback we got from lawmakers was encouraging. There was not a lot of appetite to keep the criminalization in the law.”

However, Pappas admitted that it was not feasible for a bill to be passed which would eradicate the criminalization until 2012.

Pappas also revealed that the Washington lawmakers were shocked at the severity of the law.

“It has never been enforced, but that is no excuse to have a stupid law on the books.”

“The idea that you are making criminals of players on their computers is illogical especially since the state has regulated card rooms and tribal casinos.”

The outlook for pro online poker legislation was bleak following the failure to get Barney Frank’s bill off the ground during the lame duck session of Congress late last year.

However, recent lobbying seems to have highlighted the need for federal legislation which would create a regulated and licensed framework.

Pappas admits the PPA still champion federal based measures and does not harbor hopes for an intrastate framework in Washington.

“The licensing and regulation will be a much harder sell. No one knows exactly where the tribes would come down on that and the PPA still has broader concerns in pursuing state by state models.”

Wed, 03/16/2011 – 22:50 – PokerPages Staff

The Pokers Players Alliance is set to hold a ‘Poker Lobbying Day’ outside the capitol building in the state of Washington later this week.

The PPA, who lobby for the rights of poker players across the United States, will lead a rally at a state capitol building on Thursday.

PPA Executive Director John Pappas confirmed that over 40 PPA members will attend the rally and that those members would meet with lawmakers.

“People are coming from all around the state to lobby the legislature over the law in the books that criminalizes playing poker over the net. We are going to ask that they repeal that law.”

It has nearly been five years since a law was passed which criminalized online poker in Washington.

The world’s biggest online poker site, PokerStars, took the decision to stop serving customers in the state last year after the law was upheld at the Washington Supreme Court.

Pappas is hopeful that the situation will change in the near future though he admitted he admitted the PPA are unlikely to lobby a new bill this year.

“This is our first foray into some intensive lobbying in Washington state. We do not expect a change in the law this year.”

“We are using this opportunity as a baseline-education process to build up for a possible introduction of legislation to be taken up during the next legislative session.”