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Originally Posted by Rich Muny
Industry drives a lot because they are the ones who will be offering the services. State legislatures won't really even move without knowing who will be offering the games. B&M casino legislation is even worse.
If no one wishes to offer services and won't lobby these states, then it will be slow going. As other states move forward, there will be more logic and potential reward for industry to lobby these states harder.
Dominos? pfft
Tell us, why doesn't the PPA propose/promote legislation in so many states where nothing is even being discussed? This is my main beef with the PPA, where are the bills?
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In states like Nevada, with a strong casino industry, PS had a limited voice.
They also didn't really care about the Nevada market, as it is barely viable in the first place
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PS seems powerful now because they are the one site doing most of the lobbying in other states. If WA tribes wanted iPoker, PS wouldn't be able to block them.
They managed to completely scuttle California, so I"m calling BS on this
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Why should PokerStars be responsible for the future of iPoker in every state? Other potential sites can push for poker in many states. WA tribes, Churchill Down here in Kentucky, casinos in Ohio, etc. Stars has nothing to do with the lack of iPoker in my state.
I don't think I even suggested they should be responsible for the future of ipoker. In fact, I was saying quite frankly that players/PPA who are following Pokerstars lead should be aware that Pokerstars isn't going to lead the way for most of us.
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Most players are trying to help in spots where legislation has been introduced, where we can help push bills across the finish line. We don't parrot industry talking points. To the contrary, sometimes you latch onto something one lawmakers says one time, like that lottery thing, as if that would pass tomorrow if not for those dastardly PokerStars lobbyists who dictate poker policies to states throughout America. It's just not like that.
This is ridiculous
I didn't latch on to something one lawmaker said. I'm working on a lottery angle that may or may not move quickly among at least the western states, those of us being ignored by the industry and its minions. It's not something I just latched on to, I wrote about it on OPR a couple of years ago.
As for those dastardly Pokerstars lobbyists, they certainly do dictate the PPA talking points, as we have seen so clearly in CA
I don't even see a semblence of grass roots from PPA anymore. Maybe that's not all PPA's fault, players are chipping in any money and Pokerstars will stop if PPA isn't on their side. Reality is reality, I get it.
You aren't doing outreach to players, you are lobbying on behalf of Pokerstars. It's no longer about Poker, it has to be full casino or nothing. That is the industry speaking. If it is going to lobby, it might as well lobby for the full suite. But now we are tied to full casino (CA is an outlier, not the norm) and in Tribal states that is hugely complicate because of Class III compacts.
We need to explore other ways
Like a nation wide, multi-state lottery co-op, with the 888 platform already being used in three states, and shared liquidity across the board
Imagine being able to deposit/cash out at any local lottery retailer .... cash in hand at the cage ....
Of course, it doesn't have to be the 888 platform necessarily, but Pokerstars isn't going to be interested in that approach because of their insistance on being the forward facing brand
We don't have to let the industry lead