Have I been too hard on the PPA?

Over the years I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). I was among the first group to join the organization, and over the years I’ve been more than happy to E-Mail my members of Congress on behalf of the PPA. That said, I’ve also grown more and more disillusioned with the PPA in recent years, and gone so far as to call them reactionary –always ready to express outrage at some decision, and take credit for any legislative advancements. But with the recent decision in South Carolina –which called poker a game of skill—I’m left wondering if my recent cynicism has been deserved? Have I been too harsh with my own rhetoric on the PPA?

First off, let me explain that while I may have disagreed with the methods, and criticized some of the decisions, the PPA and I are both looking for the same results; we are not competing entities pushing different agendas.

I wrote the following article http://www.billrini.com/2011/05/11/ppa-poker-community-steve-ruddock/ for BillRini.com shortly after Black Friday, and while I feel most of my arguments and points were right at the time, I also feel my final argument, that the PPA has no clear goals, was very wrong. After a conversation with the PPA’s Rich Muny I now have a clear vision of the PPA’s strategies, and what the end-game will be.

I’ll go so far as to say that the way Rich Muny explained the organization’s goals made perfect sense to me. Furthermore the PPA was instrumental in the recent court case that saw Judge Jack Weinstein call poker a game of skill (an argument I felt fruitless as can be seen in my BillRini.com article above). Without the PPA’s assistance it’s likely this ruling never occurs.

With the recent ruling, the amazing turnabout that has John Kyl (one of the authors of the UIGEA) supporting online poker legislation, the near-launch of legal online poker in Nevada, and the DOJ’s new interpretation of the Wire Act, there has never been a point in time where the US has been closer to legalized and regulated online poker, and it really is time for the entire poker community to come together and make this a reality.