PPA membership steamrolling to 500,000

With just over 120,000 members and an online gambling ban staring them in the face, things were looking grim for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) late last year. Less than six months later, with 489,667 members, former Senator Alfonse D'Amato on board and new legislation to repeal the ban on the table, things have changed.

In a new feature article on the PPA Web site, writer Dan Cypra from PocketFives.com walks through the recent history of the PPA, the ins and outs of recent legislation and the dramatic changes over the last six months, and comes to the following conclusion:

Things are looking up. A little, anyway.

Membership has virtually quadrupled, PPA President Michael Bolcerek and new Chairman D'Amato are making headway in Washington, and Congressman Barney Frank has introduced the "Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007," designed to repeal the UIGEA.

And according to Cypra, "The explosive growth of the PPA has led to an environment of change in the internet gambling industry."

But despite the more encouraging picture, he says, there's still work to be done.

All poker players are being encouraged to sign-up with the PPA to make their collective leverage even stronger, and are being asked to fax or write their Congressman to voice their support of the bill introduced by Frank.

"You have to convince them," Bolcerek says in the article, "that this is a better alternative than the legislation currently in place and I think the arguments are there."

Five levels of membership are now available, including a no-cost introductory membership, and registration only takes a few minutes on the PPA Web site.

courtesy of Christopher Hunt

News Added: 14 May, 2007

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