Portsmouth attorney given poker power; named state director of poker alliance

PORTSMOUTH — Attorney Patrick Fleming isn't a high stakes gambler.

But he's been known to win some cash at local tournaments.

"Not anything that would make me quit my day job," Fleming said Thursday. "At least not yet."

Fleming was named the Poker Players Alliance New Hampshire state director on Wednesday. The PPA is a grassroots advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C.

In his newly appointed role, Fleming will be responsible for monitoring poker-related issues and events in New Hampshire, and alerting the national PPA office to emerging trends or issues as well as leading PPA activities in the state, according to a press release.

"Pretty much like everybody, I played poker as a young man," he said. "I played with my dad as a kid and his buddies, played in college."

But it wasn't until the resurgence in poker several years ago that Fleming got back into playing.

Nowadays, it's all he plays at casinos.

"If you're going to go to a casino, why not play the only game not against the house and where skill can actually make a difference and make you a winner?" he said.

Fleming says he plays online poker three or four nights a week, visits the Seabrook Greyhound Park once every other month to play in charity poker tournaments, occasionally visits Foxwoods Resort to play and takes a yearly vacation to Las Vegas.

"Poker is extremely popular everywhere," he said, adding that there are 5,500 PPA members in the state. "It's America's game and it's regaining popularity ... (My) basic duty at this point is to grow the organization."

Fleming applied for the position of state director last year during the organization's resurgence. State directors for all 50 states were appointed at that time from 1,050 applicants nationwide, said PPA Executive Director John Pappas.

"Many gave compelling essays, some were better than others," Pappas said. "We put a lot of weight on those individuals who had previous grassroots experience ... (Fleming's) position as state director was really a renewal of his already active role in the state."

The PPA has 950,000 members nationwide. The advocacy organization is dedicated to promoting the game of poker and protecting people's rights to play in various forms, Pappas said.

In addition to the state directors program, the PPA will soon launch its Litigation Support Network, heading by Fleming.

The Support Network is a free member service that provides basic, initial legal advice and refers members to a network of attorneys with interests in helping PPA members with poker-related legal issues.

"PPA's Litigations Support Network provides PPA members with a free, legal resource should they have questions as they organize a charity poker tournament, start a poker league or, in the worst case scenario, get arrested," according to a press release. "In these situations, PPA members can contact the Litigation Support Network via the PPA website and obtain free, preliminary legal advice over the phone."

For more information or to register as a PPA member, go to www.pokerplayersalliance.org.

News Added: 17 March, 2008

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