2008 Is Probably Not the Year of Getting There

Had a pleasant chat with PPA boss John Pappas yesterday about the state of poker legislation. \”We have a new website!\” he says. OK, that quote\’s semi-made up, but he definitely wanted to pimp the Poker Players Alliance\’s new forums, benefit packages, and webtronic goodies. Yeah, yeah, website uh-huh … I didn\’t tell him that I get most of my PPA on MySpace, where they share rank with Ed, The Poker Atlas, and RawVegas TV.*

Anyhow, in hearing about what they\’re trying to achieve, I came to realize just how much progress the PPA has made. There are currently five bills pending in Congress specific to our issue. You can say all you want about the \”special interests\” … but that\’s what we are. And frankly a rather small one in the Beltway schema. Yet those five bills come with 98 unique sponsors — meaning nearly a quarter of the House of Representatives are more than familiar with poker causes and have affirmatively declared themselves on our side. That\’s pretty impressive progress over the course of 18 months.

With that said, Pappas doesn\’t necessarily expect to see a legally enforceable undoing of the UIGEA this year. Nor do I, nor does Lavigne in Austin, nor does anyone actively working toward that goal. This being a presidential election year, with so many big big issues in play and seats at stake, Congress just isn\’t gonna get around to making the world safe for online poker in \’08. I could be wrong on this — and hope I am — but I\’m not. Fortunately the PPA leadership and lobbyists seem to recognize that hoping is seldom a good strategy … and while there\’s always a chance poker could hit a political miracle on the turn and river, the PPA should shove all-in! what\’s important now for the PPA is putting us in a position to succeed in 2009, when table conditions are sure to have changed.

* Pauly, dude, when are you gonna get on MySpace?