Rochester man heads poker group

A poker advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C., has named a Rochester public relations consultant as its Illinois state director.

The nonprofit Poker Players Alliance, with more than 900,000 members nationwide, is betting on Steve Brubaker to raise its profile in Illinois.
“I’m doing it pro bono because I like poker,” said Brubaker, a contract lobbyist by trade.

“I don’t gamble, but I play free games online,” he said. “I just enjoy the game.”

“They don’t ask us (the state directors) to contact our congressmen,” he said. “I’m sure there will be some letter-writing campaigns, but the idea is to raise awareness.”

Brubaker, a member of PPA since 2006, is one of 50 state directors chosen from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants, the organization said in a news release. His duties will include alerting the PPA on local news stories or legislation and mobilizing local PPA members to attend poker-related events or rallies.

He’ll also serve as recruitment coordinator, media spokesman and is expected to organize members to contact elected officials.

The PPA mission is “to establish favorable laws that provide poker players with a secure, safe and regulated place to play,” according to its Web site.

It also aims to keep poker “free from egregious government intervention and misguided laws.”

One of the goals of the PPA is to overturn, either by political or court action, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 that prohibits financial institutions, credit card companies and the like from processing payments involving Internet gambling, with some exceptions.

It is illegal to gamble under Illinois law if taking anything of value is a result of the activity.

Brubaker says the PPA has more than 35,000 members in Illinois.

“It’s really a grassroots lobbying effort of people wanting to test their skills against other people,” he said.

“People love the game. It’s almost like boxing was when I was growing up.”

Brubaker said his job is stressful, and he likes to “come home after work and relax and test my wits and skills against another player. That’s stress-reducing for me.”

The PPA will be starting a political action committee, a voter registration campaign, a new Web site and new membership incentives later this spring.

Former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato of New York is chairman of the PPA board.

News Added: 16 March, 2008

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