As with anything else, the people who do the most get criticized the most. Do nothing and nobody notices you.

This. Some of you guys are so delusional it's hilarious. The PPA couldn't even get clear support from within the online poker community on issues of federal legalization. And yet some of you morans are bitching about how come they didn't just magically get matt damon or some other celeb to tell the public to make poker legal. Or why didn't they magically fix all this, like they should have if they worked harder. Lol, grow up. You guys sound like little children who are so naive and clueless you can't even comprehend the basics of the political struggle going on here and you haven't even paid attention enough to know even the basics for the last few years(not to mention likely done nothing about it and donated none of your time to helping). But like a child who has his toy taken away, you just need someone to cry and yell at.

If I was skallagram or the Engineer i would have quit a long time ago, online poker players as a community are way too clueless and delusional. This thread case in point.

Absolutely. I have no problems with what they are wanting to achieve, but probably should have called themselves the PSA instead.

When all of their "spokespersons" basically have vested interest in online poker sites it makes it hard to actually do things that would benefit poker players (hint: what poker sites want and the people who play at those sites want are not automatically the same thing)

How big of an organization and how much power do you think the PPA has? I'm sure they are using their resources the best they can but in the grand scheme of things, they don't have a lot of resources compared to other organizations.

Steve Wynn represents business, Barney Frank represents politics, and the PPA represents the players.

Can these three get together soon? Hold press conferences, find common ground and push for this, etc.?

It couldn't hurt. The worst they could say is no. Why wouldn't the PPA try to talk to everyone they could that might be able to help with the cause?


I think this is the biggest problem, everyone is waiting for everyone else for action. Some people think that emailing their representatives won't help, the answer is it couldn't hurt. Anything anyone can do to help can't hurt. All it takes is effort.

No, see you are thinking rationally, none of that from the woe is me crowd in here. The ppa with it's paltry budget(relative to federal big business lobbying efforts) is suppose to out maneuver billion dollar corporations and political interests in this struggle over the billion dollar online poker market that every big gaming company in the US dreams of having a big slice of. Not to mention the well organized bible thumpers that just want to see it burn in hell. And they should have done all this without clear support and help from it's very own community.

Skall did mention some pages back that numerous celebs have been contacted and they've either declined or not responded. It's a nice idea to think that celebs would speak on our behalf -- the truth is, we're not a sympathetic cause nor one that is viewed as adding much value to humanity. I think it's a much harder sell than we all want to believe.

Great, has nothing to do with what I wrote. I referenced skall and his attempt to use the work he did as a way to immunize himself against criticism. A sophisticated difference from your "blaaaah yes we do care" so it's not really a problem that you misunderstood and became defensive.

Last, they were doing a job they chose to do, the martyr crap is ridiculous, both yours and the PPA reps.

HAHA I don't know what is funnier, this joke of a post or the fact that you felt a need to create an account with the name firetheppa.

You joined 2+2 (or created your latest shill account) in just the last day or so, used the name "firetheppa" and your first post was to attack me on an absolutely personal level.

The effect of that is simply to make me feel sorry for you. I do hope someday you actually get a clue, or a life, or whatever it is you need to become a viable human being.

Skallagrim

PPA has been pretty awful imo.

Skall, I don't think anyone in here is saying you personally were not working hard or that the PPA wasn't.

My problems with the PPA are:

1. The litigation attempting to promote poker as a game of skill has been a disaster
2. The media image of the PPA has been a disaster
3. Allowing the PPA to be so closely tied with the big sites has been a disaster.


I am pretty surprised you thought the response would be different.

@ The PPA

I still support your efforts. I do think its time to realize that your current direction isn't working.

In 2009, they received 48k in donations from poker players and over 5 million in donations from "other sources" (poker sites). Who's interest do you think they will cater to?

I didn't realize that the PPA was a 3 man show until this thread. Kind of a joke of an organization. Really, 3 people? I wonder what Al D'Amato's salary is. Gotta be north of 500k.

I have questions and some concerns about some of the PPA's structure. But the issue regarding the 49K vs. the 5 million speaks volumes about poker players absolute apathy towards doing much of anything for their own cause. You could argue that without those donations the PPA would be absolutely dead in the water. So remove the $5 million -- how do you propose to move DC on $49K?

(btw, not written in an angry tone -- truly inquisitive)

The PPA is the only one in Washington lobbying on the behalf of poker players rights. I think those complaining about their efforts, have a truly distorted idea on how things work in Washington. The town is run by money and fear. The money is needed to make things happen and fear of losing office keeps them in line. Even if the PPA has tons of money (which I doubt) they sure enough do not get the amount of support needed from the poker community to put fear into politicians. If you want to see improvements in the PPA become an active member. When I say become an active member I don't mean just join, you need to really get into the origination and try to create change instead of waiting around for someone to change things for you.

And you trolling helps how?

lol....oh firetheppa......as a friend of mine used to say, "buy 'em books and buy 'em books and what do they do but eat the pages"

You weren't personally "attacked" anywhere, it's called criticism and professionals can deal with it.

And I don't care what you think about me, you work for me not the other way around.

Last, way to prove my point about your defensiveness.

Your diet is of no interest to me.

I agree. No one cared because they could still play on Stars/FTP. Maybe it will get people to get more involved. As it stands, the PPA is hitched to a wagon that just went off a cliff.

Is it out of the realm of possibility that the PPA is a bit of a scam? People are able to donate money to the cause but how that money is actually spent is never really revealed. Sure some money may be used towards protecting the players but the rest must go towards "expenses"

Skallagrim mentioned that SOME celebs had been contacted before, MY question is this:

How many celebs have been contacted by the PPA since black friday for their help? Black friday was a game-changer for everyone, not just the 'little guys'. What looked like a 'nothing in it for me' situation with risk to their careers thrown in might look quite different to them today.

Your account was created to troll, you have not given one piece of constructive criticism towards the PPA. All you have done is bash the PPA with out saying how you would improve the organization or improve the process of trying to legalize online poker.

What's gonna happen to the PPA without Stars and Tilt's 5 million in donations? It seems reasonable that they will stop their donations.

They might not stop there donations since they aren't exactly illegal (world wide) who says a foreign company cant donate to an American not for profit? Unless there is a law in place that says this, or if PS,FT agreed not to ever enter the US market even post legalization of bank transaction.