Q and A with John Pappas, Executive Director of The Poker Players Alliance
This link too has expired so the report on the interview is below:
(Some of this actually came true!!)
The Poker Players Alliance,
John Pappas, and You
To say that John Pappas is passionate about poker,
particularly online poker, is an understatement. To suggest that Mr. Pappas is
not the ideal individual to represent the rights of all American poker players
is not to know the man at all.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Poker Players Alliance
(PPA) or its mission, the important things you need to know are that John is
the Executive Director of this advocacy group and that the PPA is dedicated to,
in his own words, “. . . establishing favorable laws that provide for a safe
and regulated environment for Americans to play poker.”
While the PPA is concerned primarily with former and future
online poker players, they do not shy away from supporting the interests of
brick and mortar poker initiatives when necessary as is evidenced by the PPA’s
recent support of legislation in Maryland
that would allow the establishment of poker rooms within the state.
The existence of the PPA precedes the most pivotal event in
the lives of all American online players, Black Friday (4/15/2011) as it is not so
affectionately known. Yet in Mr. Pappas’ memory, that day was the “worst day of
my professional career.” On that day the United States Department of Justice
seized the assets of the world’s two largest online poker sites, PokerStars and
Full Tilt Poker, and closed down their websites to American players. The affect
was immediate and devastating for individual poker players. Recreational online
poker players, and John Pappas readily admits to being one of them, lost access
to their small stakes and bigger fish, many considered to be professionals,
were out five figure sums. Only recently have deals been struck that would
begin the process of returning embargoed accounts to former players.
Nevertheless, the action of the DOJ essentially branded every American online
poker player as a criminal by association and, for the most part, their days of
leisurely competing with others in online poker games and tournaments were over.
At that point in time the work of the PPA changed abruptly from
a mission into a crusade and their full time presence in Washington, D.C.
seemed like the right place to be.
One of the PPAs biggest challenges is changing the minds of
non-poker players since the card playing public already shares their mind set.
Among the lessons to be learned is that poker, online or face-to-face, is
unlike other games found in a casino environment. Poker is predominantly a game
of skill, not “predominated by chance,” a common legal definition of gambling.
John Pappas knows this to be true; former United States Senator Alphonse
D’Amato, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the PPA, knows this to be true; and
U.S. Federal District Judge Jack Weinstein knows this to be true since that was
his ruling in the recent United States of America against Lawrence
DiCristina.
Academics and long-time hard nosed poker players also know
this to be true. Fully 75% of all Texas Hold’em poker hands never make it to
the point where players “show down” their cards. The skill is in developing strategy,
betting, knowing the odds, reading your opponents and making correct timely
decisions. Chance, although present, plays a minor role in this game of wits.
Another characteristic that sets poker apart from other
casino games, a characteristic that Mr. Pappas feels is essential for the
public to understand, is that poker players compete among themselves not
against casino odds. Casinos or other establishments that sponsor poker games
are reimbursed through raking pots or through taxes on seats. Essentially a
poker player pays the room, or the online venue, to play. This unique
characteristic tends to lessen the “David vs. Goliath” feeling that many people
experience standing before a slot machine that is eating up their social
security check. Everyone around the poker table is on equal footing. They all
have the same opportunity to win money. If you play better, more skillfully, you
usually win, especially over the long haul.
Mr. Pappas is no stranger to poker games. Growing up in Arizona in a politically
active and government savvy family, John always thought he would pursue a life
in politics. As a teenager, he and his friends regularly trooped over to the
house of the only guy whose parent’s would tolerate their noisy competitions
and played poker until someone had to go home. Like most young poker devotees,
they had never heard of Texas Hold’em and instead played endless games of
dealer’s choice like Night Baseball, Cincinnati,
and Five-Card Draw. After college, John moved to Washington D.C.
and took a job with his home town Congressman, who was then the sub-chair of
the newly formed 9/11 Homeland Security Committee. After honing his skills with
the D.C. in crowd for six years he turned to the private sector where one of
his first clients was the fledgling PPA. He was slowly but inevitable drawn
into the cause and has been with the PPA ever since.
These days John doesn’t play online anymore for the same
reasons most other Americans avoid online poker play but he can be found on
occasion at a small Las Vegas
poker tournament or looking to double his stake at a cash table.
At this point in time John sees the plight of online poker
players in America
as “not great!” For those who choose to wait for the federal government to make
a move toward legalizing online poker play in the U.S. there currently is only a very
dim light at the end of a very long tunnel - and the PPA is holding the lantern.
For those whose patience has run thin and who feel impelled to make the choice
to get involved with an online casino/poker operation based outside the
country, the waters are deep and shark infested.
For John Pappas both of these unfortunate scenarios are why
the PPA is working so hard toward their goal. Horror stories of players trying
to deposit money in foreign poker accounts, or equally terrifying stories from
those who have succeeded in getting their money in but cannot now get it out,
are easy to come by. Players who have had their credit or debit card numbers
stolen only to turn up in China
will gladly share their experiences with you. Safe, legal, regulated online
poker play in the United
States will end these kinds of abuses
immediately. Looking at the legitimization of online poker play as a crime
deterrent isn’t so far from the truth.
The recent pre-election online survey run by the PPA among
its 1.2 million strong membership revealed little that John Pappas and his
staff did not already know. Fully 90% of the respondents categorized themselves
as politically aware, registered to vote and likely to cast a ballot in
November. Their political affiliations are remarkably evened out across party
lines with approximately 31% registered as Democrats, another 31% registered
Republicans, and 36% identifying themselves as independent or at least
undeclared at the time of the survey. In response to the question about willingness
to stray from a party’s line over a poker related issue, the vast majority
responded in the affirmative. Poker issues in and of themselves can win or lose
votes.
John’s position is clear. “Politicians should be catering to
them (poker players).” If you want the vote of a poker player then you will
need to come down on the side of legalizing and legitimizing online poker play
for Americans. It’s that simple.
No one has a crystal ball to look into and see the future of
online poker playing in the United
States but the outcomes are limited among a
few - some obviously much better than others. In the near future, unless
Congress acts very soon, the online poker landscape will look pretty much as it
does today - a few states jockeying for the lead in bringing online poker to
their local areas, most Americans continuing to be wary of online venues
seeking their funds, and a few special interest groups, like John Pappas and
the PPA, out there beating the bushes for support and making their mark. Within
the next four or five years, again if Congress does not act, the number of
states and localities offering online poker opportunities will increase and in
all likelihood a number of sets of rules and procedures will develop
independently. This kind of experimentation can be good - proving that online
poker can exist outside of criminal activity, cheating, and money laundering.
It can also be bad if the state run games end up with some kind of “hobbled
uniformity,” as outgoing Nevada Gaming Control Chairman, Mark Lipparelli,
predicts.
The simple fact of the matter is, and John Pappas is
eminently aware of this, that a good online poker experience needs numbers. In
order to justify a good business plan and in order to provide the best from a
consumer stand point, online poker sites need to offer adequate opportunities
for card players to get involved. Signing on to a site and finding only a few
tables available and having to wait long periods of time for competitors will
not cut it. The audience needs to be vast and unless an online poker site can
be opened up to the entire country and by extension to the entire world success
may be hard to come by.
That’s part of John Pappas’ vision. It’s part of the PPA’s
vision. And it’s the ultimate goal for every poker player in the United States of America.
Robert Cancellaro
October 2012
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