Let's Make Online Poker Legal in all 50 States
Hello all, I am sick and tired of not being able to play online for cash. I have sent e-mails to both Senators in Florida. They answered and said it was a state issue. Since then I have been writing an e-mail each month to my state senator and representative. I have been doing this for 3 months. I have only received the standard form letter/e-mail back. I am going to send the monthly e-mail for 3 more months and then if I don't get a response, I will start writing it once a week and calling every month. Looking at the forum it looks like there are over 500 people using this site. I am asking you to take 5 minutes, find your state reps. https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/ and send the 2 that represent you an e-mail asking them to make online poker legal in your state. If you live in one of the four that have already made it legal, be grateful. I believe if New York, California and Florida make it legal all of the states will follow. I have sent an e-mail to Jonathan Little, Alex Fitzgerald, and James Sweeney. Jonathan answered right away. I asked them and I'll ask here if there are pros that read this. Please start talking about this. It is unreal that we cannot play online. Pennsylvania just made it legal, Michigan is up next. https://www.onlinepokerreport.com/us/pa/ If you read that article, New Jersey is expected to bring in 400 million in tax receipts over the next 5 years. This is a great sales line to any state representative. Every state is looking for income. I will be cross posting this to other forums, if anyone has any ideas on how to get this done, please let me know. I signed up for poker players alliance right after black Friday, After a couple years I stopped following because I lived in New York and it seemed hopeless. They are still around, it just doesn't seem like they are making progress. I don't know what happened to them. Doing some searches, I see pictures of Annie Duke and Howard Lederer, thinking the full tilt fiasco diminished PPA. If anyone knows of another org. that is lobbying to make it legal, or has other ideas on how to get this done, let me know. I am ready, willing and able to help make this a reality.
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I went to the PPA website and found this https://theppa.org/take-action/?vvsrc=/Address You put your zip code in and it pulls up all of your representatives. It then lets you write an e-mail to all of them.
I totally agree. However, I did not let the silly State legislatures stay in my way. There are many sites that will accept US accounts so you can play for cash. Try betonline.ag or Ignition (there are others as well). You can use a VPN if you want. Bottom line is that no player has ever been prosecuted for playing online poker. I started about a year ago and its been great.
The problem I have with that is, if they do not pay you, you have no recourse. You can twitter blast them and yes they probably go out of business. You still won't have your money. There is no reason that it is not legal and regulated in every state. We, the poker players need to get active and pressure the politicians to allow us to play legally.
I agree with your overall premise but disagree with the specifics of recourse. You have exactly as much civil recourse now as you did before Black Friday. Getting money back from any online entity is difficult. Suing offshore entities is even more difficult. However, nothing bars a customer from pursuing claims, even with the current laws in place.
I live in 2 corrupt states, NY and MD - the only thing that will happen in these states is that the taxes imposed on whatever business decides to operate here will force the companies to institute extremely high rake structures. It was the same way with lotteries and with casino gambling. It is the same way with medical marijuana and cigarettes. Just because they make something legal doesn't mean the end-user is actually free to pursue these things. Its just much more complicated because in the end, its a matter of governments seeing revenue sources while citizens simply wish to exercise the freedoms associated with private property (ie their own money).
Poker Players Alliance needs some support. I am not asking for cash. I am asking that you follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theppa/ and to follow and retweet their posts on Twitter. https://twitter.com/ppapoker?lang=en
Met with PFAL today. He brought his brother who in turn brought a Florida House of Representatives member for lunch. We spoke about making online poker legal in Florida. I thought it was a good conversation and hope it leads to a positive outcome. I sent the representative some information he requested. While looking for that information I found that New Jersey has made 126 million dollars in tax revenue since gaming was made legal in 2011. Pennsylvania forecasts 100 million in revenue for the 10 licences they are going to issue and 400 million in revenue over the next 5 years. Take 5 minutes and write your state representatives, they want to hear from you. They are also looking for new revenue streams. Most states need money to secure their schools right now, they also need to boost their education budgets. If they could find the revenue without raising taxes, which they can if they go this route, we have a good chance of getting this done. Great meeting you PFAL, look forward to talking with you in the future. Thanks
https://www.onlinepokerreport.com/30789/illinois-sports-betting-and-online-gambling-bill/ Illinois is added to the list.
i dont trust any state, we ask, can i do this and that, for a way too long time. we can be lucky, when we are allowed to breath in the next 10 years. watch out for dane wingington. he explain alot.
I am in Canada and allowed to play all over ... sometimes i think if I wasn't allowed I would have more money to spend... hahaha
How and where to play online poker for $ in the US, along with deposit options: https://www.beatthefish.com/us-poker-sites/
I totally agree. There are many sites that accept US accounts so you can play for real money. The bottom line is that no player is ever held liable for playing online poker. I started about a year ago and it was great.