Poker Players Alliance On Capitol Hill

The Poker Players Alliance who claims to have 800,000 members nationwide had members in Washington this week and made a visit to some congressional offices. They also sponsored a forum to give lawmakers information to help them change the current laws banning Americans from gambling online.

One of these members is a well-known poker player Chris Moneymaker, along with Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, Andy Bloch, Vanessa Rousso, Chris Brown and Victor Ramdin.

Professor Charles Nesson of Harvard Law School and founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society spoke with the legislature," We are poker players and we are here to speak with our representatives" he then went on to say, the current law the UIGEA is a disreputable piece of legislation.

The Poker Players Alliance does support a bill that is being sponsored by Robert Wexler a Democratic Representative from Florida named Skill Game Protection Act, this bill would exempt poker, mah-jongg, chess, bridge and other games that players compete against one another.

Representative Wexler has stated that poker is not a crime and millions of Americans enjoy the competition of a poker game on the Internet, he went one to say that while Americans should be protected they should have the freedom as adults to play poker as it is a great American hobby.