The History of the PPA

by Shari Geller

There is an old saying that "You can't fight city hall." But for the over one million members of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), they have been taking on not just city hall, but the halls of Congress and every state legislature since 2005. Starting out as a small, some might say "ragtag" group of poker players fighting against proposed internet gambling bans, the PPA has grown in size and stature to become the leading voice for poker players in the country.

The PPA can trace its beginnings to the summer of 2005 when an organization called the Professional Poker Players Association (PPPA) was formed by Sam Gorewitz, with the goal of acting as a union representing the interests of professional poker players. That endeavor proved less than successful and the association quickly switched its focus away from the professional poker community to the millions of amateur players throughout the United States whose interests were not being represented. The initial problems which the association wanted to address were raids at charity poker games, closing down of nickel-and-dime games at senior centers and other state-sanctioned crackdowns on the public's right to play poker.

The newly-named PPA immediately drew the attention of Linda Johnson, who became is first Chairwoman. Other noted members of the poker community also agreed to become honorary board members to support the cause, including Nolan Dalla, Kathy Kohlberg, Paul Darden, Mark Gregorich, Greg Dinkin, Jan Fisher, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman and Kelly O'Hara. But the PPA was still just a small organization - with fewer than 5,000 members - that was in need of an executive to take the reins and run its day-to-day operations. According to PPA lore, at that same time, Michael Bolcerek was playing poker at his regular card game when one of his poker buddies mentioned that he had helped raise $18,000 for a local school in a charity poker tournament, only to learn that California prohibited that kind of fundraising. Bolcerek's friend told him that he had raised the issue with the PPA. Bolcerek then asked whether there was anything he could do to help. "Well, they're actually looking for a president," his friend said. "You're not doing anything right now; why don't you put your resume in?"

Bolcerek did just that and a few weeks later, the former technology company executive who lived in San Francisco became the PPA's president. Under Bolcerek's leadership, the PPA moved its office to San Francisco and quickly began lobbying against a new issue that was threatening the rights of poker players, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). First introduced in Congress in 2006 by Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and later in a slightly different incarnation by Jim Leach (R-IA), the UIGEA took direct aim at online poker by prohibiting the transfer of funds from United States financial institutions to internet gambling sites. Bolcerek worked to raise the group's profile by bringing well-known professional players, including Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Greg Raymer, to Washington to speak to lawmakers in order to demystify internet poker and validate it as a game of skill. In April 2006, these poker professionals descended on Capitol Hill to meet with key lawmakers. They also participated in a policy conference in conjunction with the Cato Institute, to discuss why the UIGEA should not be approved.

By June 2006, the PPA had grown to over 50,000 members. To further raise awareness regarding the UIGEA and to drum up opposition to it, the PPA and various online poker sites dedicated June 15, 2006 as "Write Your Congressmen Day." However, those efforts ultimately fell victim to the fancy political footwork of the bill's main proponent in the Senate, Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). Although Sen. Frist's first attempt to attach the UIGEA to unrelated, but guaranteed to pass, legislation failed (when he tried to get it in a Department of Defense authorization bill), he was successful in getting it shoehorned into the Safe Port Act, which passed without any discussion in the last hour before Congress adjourned, in September 2006.

With the passage of the UIGEA, and the subsequent shutting down of Party Poker to U.S. players and the crackdown of payment processor Netteller, a shockwave was sent throughout the poker community. While Bolcerek's original goal was to reach 100,000 members by the end of 2006, the passage of the UIGEA and the subsequent impact on internet poker resulted in a rapid increase in PPA membership and boosted the organization's profile and influence.

The passage of the UIGEA only served to steel the PPA for a long battle. The PPA sent a call-to-arms letter to its supporters urging them to continue the fight for online poker. Referring to the passage of the UIGEA as a "bad beat", the PPA slammed the political backroom dealing that led to the bill's passage and vowed to exempt poker from the bill's impact. "[Poker] is a game of skill, where performance is merited, and a community game, where the house is not your competition," Bolcerek said in the letter. "These are real and significant differences. Our desire is to achieve the same type of exemption from legislation that other interests have received (horseracing, lotteries, and fantasy sports)…. This is our most immediate short-term goal."

In order to bulk up its lobbying activates, in March 2007, former Senator Alfonse D'Amato, an avid poker player with deep Washington connections who had been consulting with the PPA for some time, was named Chairman of the PPA. Two months later, the PPA opened up its office in D.C. with political consultant John Pappas as its new Vice President of Government Affairs. Pappas was immediately tasked with lobbying to get congressional support for two pending anti-UIGEA bills; namely, HR 2046, Barney Frank's Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, and HR 2610, Robert Wexler's Skill Games Exemption Bill.

In August 2007, the PPA announced that Pappas would become is executive director, replacing Bolcerek who had overseen the organization's rise to more than 660,000 members. The move coincided with the PPA's decision to move its headquarters from San Francisco to Washington D.C. "It is vital that the PPA centralize its efforts in D.C. so we can best serve the interests of our over 660,000 members," D'Amato said in a press release at that time. In his new position, Pappas was charged with coordinating the lobbying and grass-roots efforts of the PPA towards their goal of having online poker licensed and regulated in the United States.

In his expanded role, Pappas continued the PPA's push to exempt internet poker from the UIGEA. In October 2007, over 100 PPA members, including some of the top professional poker players again converged on Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers to convey their message that online poker is a game of skill and that reasonable regulation - not a ban - is the best policy approach. Thereafter, in November, Annie Duke returned to D.C. to speak before the House Judiciary Committee on behalf of the PPA to discuss the establishment of regulations and policies governing internet poker. She was joined by experts on international trade, age-verification technology, and representatives from the Departments of Justice and Treasury.

With the 2008 national election on the horizon, the PPA has intensified its efforts to represent the interest of poker players throughout the United States who want their right to play poker - in all its forms - protected. Last month, the PPA, joining with the American Gaming Association, sponsored charity poker events at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions to raise funds for the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Said Pappas, "What better way to get our message delivered than to be right at the conventions, when there's all this politics and policy?"

And to expand the clout of the poker player, the PPA has recently announced two significant initiatives. It started the political action committee PokerPAC, which will be chaired by D'Amato. Former Rep. Toby Moffett (D-Conn.), will be vice-chairman and poker pro Annie Duke will be an honorary board member. While the PPA remains the main lobbying group for poker players, PokerPAC will be able to raise funds and make coordinated political contributions to those politicians who support the rights of poker players. The PPA also launched the "If you play, have a say" campaign, designed to get all it members registered to vote. Along with its voter registration drive, the PPA will provide a congressional ratings score card for every member of congress so that PPA voters can make an informed decision this November.

In three short years, the PPA has come a long way. What started out as a small, loosely organized group of poker enthusiasts concerned about losing their rights to play poker has now grown to a million-strong lobbying group that speaks with a loud, clear voice in seeking to protect the rights of online poker players in the United States who simply want to enjoy the game free from unnecessary governmental intrusion.

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