September 13 2011, Matthew Kredell

Congress returned to session last week after taking a month off to visit district offices and constituents. Congress’ special deficit-reduction committee, which represents the best opportunity for online poker legislation to pass this year, met for the first time Thursday.

The Poker Players Alliance urged its membership to use the recess to contact representatives and voice their support for the licensing and regulation of Internet poker. Some in the PPA went the extra mile to meet with representatives or their aides at their local offices or town hall meetings.

Rich Muny, the PPA’s vice president of player relations, attended a local event in Kentucky where he met with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kent.) and Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Kent.). Two PPA members posted on the TwoPlusTwo.com Forums of attending local town hall meetings to talk to their Congressmen, one with Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) and one with Rich Nugent (R-Fla.). Another PPA member visited the office of his local senator to talk poker with an aide of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the co-chair of the deficit reduction super committee.

In addition to the in-person meetings, PPA members used social networking to show their numbers to lawmakers. Muny organized and focused membership on one representative each day through his postings as “TheEngineer” on the TwoPlusTwo.com Forums.

Using Facebook and Twitter, Muny directed participants to hit each of the lawmakers on the committee during the month. The social-network assault began in May but really took off in August, with comments and “likes” on Facebook averaging more than 100 per day. They had never hit triple digits in likes before August.

“Participation went up dramatically during August,” Muny said. “The guys did a great job. Most comments by others don’t even get a single like, so for us to come in there in the hundreds is huge for the medium. There’s great participation and very few anti-poker responses. I looked at it as a great August for us, especially with the super committee coming up.”

Toward the end of last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) asked for Twitter followers to tweet him questions for his upcoming town hall meeting. Muny put the PPA membership on the case and Reid was bombarded with questions on poker legislation. As of Sunday night, Reid had received more than 350 tweets on poker, which was well more than all other topics combined.

The deficit reduction super committee will hold its first public hearing Tuesday. The committee has until Nov. 23 to vote on a plan for $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction, which would then have to be submitted to the president and Congress by Dec. 2 and voted on by both houses by Dec. 23.

Muny will continue his planned daily social networking calls to action, in which poker players can make a difference each day while taking up less than a minute of their time. The latest assignment is always updated in the first post on the TwoPlusTwo Forums.

“What this does is, when our lobbyists show up to Congressional offices in D.C. in September, it will give them the ammo they need to back up what they’re saying with the support of American citizens,” Muny said.

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August 16 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

If you’re looking for the top poker news stories of the day, then you’ve come to the right place. In this edition, you’ll learn about the new poker player relocation service that’s being offered, which state is pushing hard for online poker legislation, and more.

In Case You Missed It

We caught up with Peter Jetten recently to find out more about his life off of the felt. We learned there’s more to him than poker, like his love for koalas, busting out all of his moves on the dance floor, and scuba diving.

In the latest PokerNews Podcast, the team broke down the inaugural Epic Poker League event, Chino Rheem’s debts, and the sick call that Erik Seidel made during the EPL Main Event. They’re then joined by EPL bubble boy Adam “Roothlus” Levy to discuss his future plans and shoes.

Black Friday impacted thousands of poker players in the United States. We caught up with PokerStars Supernova Elite Mike “MeleaB” Brooks, who uprooted his family and moved back to the United Kingdom days after online poker was shutdown in the U.S.

The Epic Poker League kicked off its inaugural event last week, and it was a hit with most of its players. Eric Ramsey and Rich Ryan took sides to debate whether the Epic Poker League will succeed.

Player Relocation Service

On Tuesday, PocketFives announced the launch of its poker player relocation service, Poker Refugees. The service is founded by Kristin Wilson, a former professional surfer. She lives in Costa Rica and is currently focusing on commercial and residential leasing.

Poker Refugees currently features services for players moving to Costa Rica, Panama, and Canada. There’s a one-time relocation fee of $1,000 to become a client. Then it’s $750 per person for two or more roommates or $1,500 per family.

So what do you get? Information on opening a foreign bank account, access to a relocation specialist to answer any questions, assistance on requirements to set up online poker accounts, relocation to an apartment or home, an orientation guide to the country, and more.

PocketFives.com has more.

Online Poker TV Ads

With only one business-month left for the California legislature, the push is on to get Sen. Lou Correa’s Senate Bill 40 passed. The California Online Poker Association has released a series of radio and television ads asking the legislature to pass the bill that would make online poker legal and taxed in California.

With ominous music in the background, the ad says, “California is facing a real emergency. A $4 billion budget shortfall that will result in cuts to police and fire departments, health care and state schools among other. Online poker will provide California with billions of dollars including $250 million immediately, create thousands of jobs and will ensure that the state’s online poker market, the largest in the nation, won’t be taken over by Nevada and its casinos.”

The bill is opposed by other gaming tribes and they issued a letter urging the legislature not to take action.

“Even though there have been hearings on the matter of intrastate internet poker, many fiscal, legal, technical and policy related questions must be resolved before adoption of any intrastate internet gaming legislation. There are numerous stakeholders who stand to be irreparably harmed should legislation be ‘ram-rodded’ through this legislative year and this surely would be a disservice to ALL Californians, Tribal and Non-Tribal, alike,” says the letter from Robert H. Smith, Chairman of the California Tribal Business Alliance.

The Sacramento Bee has more.

Don’t Forget

We’re sure you have your DVRs set to record the 2011 World Series of Poker on ESPN, but just in case, this is your friendly reminder. Main Event coverage kicks off Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT.

“You know who wins the Main Event whether you like poker or not and that’s why it’s the one event that you still want to win more than any other,” Daniel Negreanu said in the teaser video.

We would have embedded the video for you, but the auto-play function hasn’t been fixed over at ESPN, and we don’t want you to wonder where that SuperCuts ad is coming from.

And while you’re over on the ESPN website, check out Shaun Deeb’s adorable grandmother, Ellen Deeb. She plays poker 50 hours a week according to Shaun.

New to the Team

PokerStars has added to its team, but not its Pro roster. Alex Payne has joined the online poker giant’s senior leadership team as chief marketing officer. Before joining PokerStars, Payne worked in sales and marketing for Bing in the U.K. Before that, he worked for Microsoft for 11 years where he held national, regional, and global marketing roles.

“I’m delighted to be joining PokerStars,” Payne said. “I am joining an outstanding business, which is the clear leader in its category and has enormous potential ahead of it. Moreover, it’s a product in which I have a huge personal passion.”

According to the press release, Payne will be “responsible for the company’s brand and advertising, TV programming productions and media buying, online marketing including paid search, organic search, social media, regional customer relationship management and acquisition, conversion and retention campaigns for online and live poker players.”

Read the press release for more.

What’s My [Screen] Name?

For his latest musical masterpiece, SrslySirius found his inspiration from DMX and the Jose Macedo scandal. Our one warning is don’t listen to this if your 5-year-old is by you, or you’re at work. The video was posted on QuadJacks Tuesday morning. And when you’re done with the video below, make sure you check out Fun Police, inspired by Katy Perry.

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