PPA in Washington This Week to Fight UIGEA

This is the week that many online operators, players and software companies have been waiting for, the Poker Players Alliance is going to Washington this week to meet with representatives and let the feelings and voice of those that want to gamble online be heard.


In a statement from John Pappas the group's executive director, he said that this law has forced British companies such as PartyGaming, and 888 Holdings to leave the American market hurting their financial situation by losing American online poker players.


These companies had safeguards in place for underage and problem gamblers, which are two of the main reasons given for placing the ban into effect.


The Poker Players Alliance is flying one hundred of their members to Washington and in this group there will be several champion players, one of these is Chris Moneymaker. They will lobby the lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday to have poker exempt from the UIGEA as it has already omitted horse racing, lotteries and fantasy sports.


They also have plans to back a bill that will regulate and license online gambling, according to some figures that have been studied a move such as this could net the government a few billion in revenues if online gaming were made legal and taxed.