|
Every now and then a defining moment comes along in the poker industry that has everyone wondering what tomorrow will bring. This appears to most definitely be the case when it comes to the petition sent out by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). It is especially true because the PPA has managed to get more than 300,000 people to sign the petition now, showing that there is indeed a sizable and growing number of people within the United States that are sympathetic to the world of online poker.
Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, has already introduced legislation that would effectively legalize and regulate online gambling within the United States. It does have the support of several Democrats within the house, although more support is still needed within the committee in order to get the bill through the house and eventually hopefully to the White House to be signed by President Barack Obama. As of right now, the Obama Administration has been just as tough on online gambling as the previous Bush Administration, so there is really no reason to think that as of right now things will be changing anytime soon.
That has not dampened the spirits of representatives of the PPA however, who are going to present the petition to President Obama on July 22nd. It is one of the most interesting aspects of the PPA’s National Poker Week which will start on the 19th and continue right through to the 25th. The poker petition is interesting because it notes right off the bat that Americans have really backed the legalization and regulation of online poker, even according to sources like the Citizens’ Briefing Book which is directly sponsored and set up by government sources.
Even if nothing happens, there will certainly be a lot of awareness raised during the National Poker Week. One would hope that even if unsuccessful, the current push for legalization and regulation will at least raise the awareness level to the point where one could see both of those things coming down the pipeline at some point in the future. If this petition and accompanying week of awareness is able to do that, it will certainly have been a success.
| 
