American Online Poker Players Please Read

Let your voice be heard
On September 12th the Poker Players Alliance with the support of leading poker blogs and forums, and others are organizing a Phone March on Capitol Hill. From 9:00 AM Eastern Time, until 5:30 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, September 12th, we are asking all PPA members and anyone interested in defending poker to call this toll free number, 800-289-1136 and be patched through to one of your two U.S. Senators in Washington D.C. When you call the 800 number you will hear a recording from fellow PPA member Greg “Fossilman” Raymer and then you will be prompted to enter your five digit zip code so you can be directed, free of charge, to your Senator’s office.

Note: The 800 number will only be active between 9:00 AM EST and 5:30 PM EST on Tuesday September 12.
Key points you should make:

* I am voter in your state.
* I strongly oppose any legislation that would prohibit online poker, and urge the Senator to vote against such legislation.
* Poker is a skill game enjoyed by 70 Million Americans.
* The Senator should seek to regulate online poker much like the government regulates other forms of gaming, like lotteries.
* Prohibitions don’t work. Any legislation that tries to ban online poker will only drive those players underground.
* Again, I urge the Senator to oppose any attempts to prohibit me from playing the great American game of poker on the Internet.

The threat to poker is real. Please forward this information to everyone you know who cares about poker and an American’s freedom to use the Internet. We need everyone possible to make their voice heard on September 12th. Please note that Jon Kyl is up for re-relection in Arizona, it would be great to get him out of office. Spread the word to the everyone you know in Arizona.

Count me in...I'm calling twice.

ID 31709272....pokerstars. Tourney>>>>>Special....there are a bunch of them

just seen the email and was about to post it,,,,,, glad to see someone else is already up and on it. i will for sure be calling. time for the rocks, donks, and fish to gather together to save online poker.

Fantastic, Tina! I'm printing your post and both I and my husband will definitely be calling. I'll try to pass it around to other people I know as well. Thanks for posting this! +rep!

I'm a Canadian, and if there is anything I can do to help, let me know.

When calling on the phone, remember: it's not "aboot" it's "about". Don't want to be a dead giveaway.

I hate to be cynical (okay, i don't hate to, but i don't want to go against popular opinion) but if the PPA (and pokerstars for that matter, who is putting up thousands of dollars for promotional tournaments to advertize this) want to spend their money to try to keep online poker 'legal', they would be far better off putting that money in an envelope or a brief case and just giving it to these senators. American legistlators (especially senators) do not listen to their constitutants. they are vain, proud, egotistical people who believe they know what is best for others, and often times, if fact, assume that people are actually not capable of figuring such things out for themselves. The only thing that will get them to change their mind is money. The only thing more important to them then their own beliefs are their pocketbooks. I hate to generalize, but i challenge anyone to provide an example to the contrary. I remember back when online file sharing was a big issue (which, by the way was made illegal, but is more prevelent today then it was back then) I wrote to my representitives in Washington, and the one who wrote me back said, and i'm paraphrasing here, in her letter, 'I see what you're saying, but i disagree with you. i'm right, you're wrong, so TS.' So go ahead and call. You'll most likely only talk to a secretary if you're lucky, and probably just voice mail, but go for it if you want to. I'd love to be proven wrong on this one. I really would, because I'd love to think that my government isn't full of corrupt, self rightious bastards, but... if you really want to do some good, get out your checkbooks, and encourage the PPA to do the same.

okay, now i just have to make a quick joke. When I saw this i thought, why do a 'phone march'? Why not actually organize poker players to litterally march on Capital Hill? But then i reallized a bunch of pale, clammy, dirty poker players, squinting their eyes in the bright sunlight like vampires, probably wouldn't be an effective way to convince people that their 'misguided' views on poker aren't accurate.

gosh, sorry for such a cynical post. it's been awhile since i've had a good rant.

-n

You are so funny....HA HA, but seriously,I live up here in Winnipeg and would really like to voice my opinion, Is there was any way that my opinion would help?

I don't want americans to lose their omline poker

Just having a little fun with ya (at your expense, sorry). But in all seriousness, I don't think there's much you could do.

will definitely be calling, thanks for the info!

Nate, I know on this account you may be right on alot of what you typed above.

One could hope since this is an Election Year that they would actually listen to their constituents.

OK Got the number and will be calling, im not sure if it will do anything, but its worth a try>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. buck

Yes I will! Great post, I printed it and will be caling for sure!

I Been calling for 1 hour & 45 minutes and the line is Busy,, Did anybody else get through??????? buck

Yeah Buck I just made the call and got through to Hawaii's senior senator office Dan Inouye, of course I talked to his secretary or one of his staff and I asked what his stand is regarding online gaming, she stated that hawaii's senator has not released anything regarding OLG, and I stated that I am against any ban on OLG and hope that Mr. Inouye would vote against this ban and would suggest that the US govt. regulate it as they do any other forms of gambling, she said she would pass the word on to senator Inouye and that he will be releasing a statement soon on his stand against this ban.

Although any form of gambling is illegal in hawaii, I asked that he support the many millions of people who play online.

Would I be correct in assuming that your five digit zip code is in fact the unique identification of your home, in other words your home address?

If this is the case then perhaps a cautious approach is needed because if by chance these spoilers of all we enjoy get their way, one thing is for sure, they now know where likely online poker gamblers live.

Ok, I called Senator Feinstein's office. I didn't get to say all the information, and of course, she hadn't made a statement on OLG, but the staff person said that she would record my response and pass it on. She simply asked if I was opposed to this measure... Hopefully it really does get passed on, and I hope more Californians call (simply because of our sheer numbers...last time I checked we were the most populous state).

STAND UP FOR YOUR PERSONAL RIGHTS! DON'T FORGET TO CALL!

No ZZ, the zip code you enter is not your unique number it is for all the people living in a particular area or district, as mines is 96782 and the 250,000 other people in Pearl City use the same 96782. hope this helps a little.

Yes and no. It's no where near giving your exact address. The zipcode is a number assigned to a general area to help expedite where mail is going (since for example, there may be more than one town by the same name, they need to know which one to send it to)...let me see if I can bring up a map to give you an idea.

Also, each state has two US Senators that represent them. Each senator has a certain district that they represent, so they would need to know your zipcode in order to forward you to the correct senator.

The zip code is just the area they live in, doesnt tell them your exact address. You know, like Beverly Hills 90210.

I feel for you Americans and your gov't always sticking its nose in where it does not belong. I truly hope they regulate it and you can continue to play without worry.

Aha thank you, I fully understand now, well in that case, JAM those lines like theres no tomorrow.

As an afterthought, you can block caller ID I suppose?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is a mockery of your freedoms and rights and I sure hope all of you Americans are allowed to continue playing online poker!

Although I do see Nate's point, I think you must go through all the proper channels before you sneak through the back door. Make the calls, protest, what ever it takes. If at that point you are not getting through, then start delivering briefcases full of money.

Wont do any good here in West Virginia. The game of poker in itself is illegal for play or for real. It's been a big issue here as there are several casinos that do not allow any types of cards. I have voiced my opinion several times personally and nothing doing. Good luck everywhere else though.

Well I`ve been calling since 9am this morning,, at least 25 times, now its 3:30pm,, 6 1/2 hours later, i keep calling and i keep getting a BUSY signal,, im calling from Mass.,, is anyone from my area having trouble getting through,, how bout it T1riel, did you try and did you get through or did you get a Busy signal too????????????????????? buck

Buck,
I'm sorry you had such a hard time getting through(this may be a good thing though). If the lines were jammed maybe that means many many people were calling in.

On another note, if you didn't get through yesterday. You can always call any Mon-Fri to your Reps. local office or long distance to his Washington DC. office, infact I think can you even email your Rep. if you wanted to.

Here is a link to Congress.org.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

On the left hand side of the home page click "State Officials", it will take you to another page to where you need to put your zip code in. This will show who your Reps are etc....

Just type in your zip and it will tell you who your Reps are.

Just remember that you'll need to contact your State Senator at this point, as it has already passed through the House of Represenatives.

I got through with no problems, then registered for the tournament that I forgot about . I'm hoping to maybe play in another one today, but Wednesdays are insane for me.

Tammy, Thanks for pointing that out. Still alittle on the sleepy side here

so what does everyone think is gonna happen......

I wanted to update this thread and bump it................

Even though you can't use the number in the OPost, you can google your senators local phone numbers and email addresses. If you weren't able to get through on September 12th, it isn't too late.

Here is the link to the Senate Website: http://www.senate.gov/

I missed the 60 minutes show last night and from what I have heard this morning it wasn't a good thing for online poker. Maybe I am seeing this all wrong and looking through rose colored glasses, I think we can make a difference here.

Apathy Kills, don't just sit on your butt and do nothing.

I totally missed 60 minutes last night.Anyone know where I can read a good article, or can someone give a good rehash?

I know that buck posted a thread for it yesterday but I will see if I can find one and post it.

Here ya go. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...n1052420.shtml

edit:Btw, I do believe the one that aired last night is this one which was a repeat, but I can't say 100% sure since I missed it.

Ya thats the 1 that was on last night, also the Mirage casino had someone speak too, they had a site to but closed it<>>>>>>>>>>>>>> buck
Well i couldnt get to play, but at the bottom you can go to pages 2 and 3 and read it all
OK Got it, on page 2> Senator Jon Kyl,,, Republican of Arizona