Fight for Poker Rights (PPA) Forum FAQ

[TheEngineer]

Welcome to Fight for Poker Rights (PPA)! I’m excited to have this outlet to advocate for poker rights, and I hope everyone on 2+2 will join us in actively standing up for our rights.

What is the ‘Fight for Poker Rights’ Forum?

Fight for Poker Rights is the forum for discussion of actions the Poker Players Alliance and individual poker players are taking to advocate for poker -- online, B&M, home, and all other forms -- at the local, state, and federal levels. These efforts focus on legislation and litigation.

Many regular posters on Fight for Poker Rights are experts in their fields. They write well and know the ins-and-outs of legislation and litigation like the backs of their hands. This makes Fight for Poker Rights an invaluable resource in the fight for our rights.

However, we all must be mindful of the fact that the high level at which this forum operates can make it intimidating for new users and for those with limited English proficiency. To be as welcoming as possible, I ask that we not be pedantic on grammar. We should correct proposed letters to newspapers, politicians, and others without mercy, but regular posts don't require that level of scrutiny. Please also minimize dismissing questions from new posters with "try the search."

Originally Posted by Berge20

This is not a place to extensively discuss current political events or theory. The Politics Forum is the appropriate place for those matters and such posts will be moved there.

Berge has it right, and this is true here as well.

Discussion on taxes is permitted, but should be limited to how tax laws affect poker players. PPA does not give tax advice. Tax-related posts here are informational only and should not be considered tax advice from the Poker Players Alliance.

With the Poker Legislation forum and two PL subforums, how do I decide where to post?

• If your topic could possibly involve any PPA or grassroots action, the PPA Legal Support Network, or PPA litigation, start the thread here in Fight for Poker Rights. That will allow for an unfettered answer and perhaps creation of actions to take right then and there.
• If your topic could possibly involve any aspect of iMEGA, including iMEGA litigation, start it there.
• If it's about taxes or is a legislation question where the answer doesn't involve PPA or grassroots action, post it in Poker Legislation.

What can we as poker players do to advocate for online poker rights?

• You can stand up for your rights in only 60 seconds. Go to the PPA's website at http://capwiz.com/pokerplayersalliance/home to send letters to President Obama, your congressman, and both of your senators. Simply either type your info or click your AutoFill button, then click "submit". It takes literally one minute!
• You can find the phone numbers of your elected representatives there as well. Let's all call them to tell them that we demand our rights.
• Join PPA! Visit www.joinppa.com to join right now.
• Volunteer: http://pokerplayersalliance.org/volunteer
• Follow PPA and me on Twitter, at http://twitter.com/ppapoker and http://twitter.com/TheEngineer2008. Retweet our tweets and help create a groundswell of support for these actions.

Why does PPA push the "Skill vs. Luck" argument?

Many state laws already differentiate between games of skill and games of chance, so this works within the existing legal framework. This also helps to demonstrate a clear dividing line between casino gaming and poker, which can help alleviate the fears some may have that allowing poker will lead to an expansion of games of chance.

"Skallagrim" leads the PPA's Litigation Support Team. He maintains a great site on the skill vs. luck issue on the PPA Forum, called “Ask Skallagrim”. He helped develop a proof that poker is a game of skill that is being used in some state challenges.

PPA used this in the Kentucky case. We filed a brief proving that poker is a game of skill, not chance. As such, we were able to argue that poker should not be considered "gambling" under Kentucky law. While it wasn't ruled on, it did show that we are able to make a solid case for our position.

Poker has had recent court victories in Pennsylvania and Colorado with the skill vs. luck argument as well.

Do any conservative authors support online poker rights?

Here are some articles from conservatives who oppose federal prohibition of online poker:

• George Will: http://www.newsweek.com/id/72444?tid=relatedcl and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...081401933.html
• Jacob Sullum of Reason: http://townhall.com/columnists/Colum...a-edcb1da79d97 and http://townhall.com/columnists/Jacob...2/bet_blockers
• Walter Williams: http://townhall.com/Columnists/Walte...=true#comments
• My Townhall.com article: http://townhall.com/Columnists/RichM..._gop_imploding
• My Townhall.com blog: http://poker.townhall.com
• Pro-poker comments submitted to the GOP's Party Platform idea submission site: http://theengineer.pokerplayersallia...-the-internet/
• Another article by Jacob Sullum of Reason: www.reason.com/news/show/128698.html
• Grover Norquist: http://pokerplayersalliance.org/pdf/...040208_ATR.pdf

How do I add strikethroughs and other formatting:

• See http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/misc.php?do=bbcode for the complete BBCode tag list

[TheEngineer]

Update history:

9/16; Added:

Many regular posters on Fight for Poker Rights are experts in their fields. They write well and know the ins-and-outs of legislation and litigation like the backs of their hands. This makes Fight for Poker Rights an invaluable resource in the fight for our rights.

However, we all must be mindful of the fact that the high level at which this forum operates can make it intimidating for new users and for those with limited English proficiency. To be as welcoming as possible, I ask that we not be pedantic on grammar. We should correct proposed letters to newspapers, politicians, and others without mercy, but regular posts don't require that level of scrutiny. Please also minimize dismissing questions from new posters with "try the search."

9/17; Changed:

• George Will: http://www.newsweek.com/id/72444?tid=relatedcl to
• George Will: http://www.newsweek.com/id/72444?tid=relatedcl and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...081401933.html

9/30; Added BBCode tag link

12/2; Added: new Jacob Sullum article

6/6/10; Posted Politics Forum rules

[TheEngineer]

Here are the rules from Politics. While for this forum these guidelines are for reference only, they are largely applicable here:

Originally Posted by ElliotR

Welcome to the Politics Forum. Here are the rules.


1. Attack the argument, not the arguer. This includes calling a user a troll, or announcing that you have or are putting someone on ignore. Having your opinion, claim or argument challenged, doubted or dismissed is not attacking the arguer.

2. Don't be a troll.

3. Don't post conspiracy theories or other unsupported hyperbole. Any non-obvious claim about the world should be supported by empirical evidence and an appropriate, reputable citation. The less obvious and/or more radical the claim, the higher the standard will be for supporting evidence and citations. Claims of facts that are refuted by available evidence or that cannot be verified at all have no place in this forum.

4. No broad-brush attacks on opposing political parties or ideologies

5. No calling for a thread to be locked or for other moderation, and do not criticize moderation decisions in this forum. Use the mod notification button to get a mod's attention, PM a moderator to discuss his modding, or, only AFTER trying the above, PM an admin or go to ATF.

6. Keep posts substantive, particularly new threads. Low-content or off-topic banter belongs in the LC thread or in a designated chatter thread on the subject. Standards here are subjective. If a poor thread was closed that you would like to make a substantive contribution to, PM a moderator with your contribution, and the thread may be reopened.

7. Site-wide rules apply here, as everywhere
-- No spam
-- No begging
-- No linked NSFW* stuff without the link being tagged NSFW
-- No linked porn
-- No wishing death on other posters.
-- No Trainwrecking
-- No filesharing discussion
-- No discussion of methods to break laws, encouragement to break laws, etc.
-- No plagiarism
-- No racism/anti-semitism/etc.
-- etc.

The 2+2 terms and conditions are here.