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Support Online Poker Regulation In The United States By Making Your Voice Heard

Please Take A Few Moments To Support Online Poker Regulation In Congress

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The 12 Members of the CommitteeThe United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction launched its website on Wednesday, asking the American public for feedback and recommendations on how they can reduce the nation’s federal deficit.

The 12-member committee has been asked to develop a bipartisan plan to reduce federal debt and will be delivering it to the President and Congress by Thanksgiving.

Card Player is asking all poker players to please take some time to visit the site and urge the committee to license and regulate online poker in an effort to reduce the deficit and create jobs. Making your voice heard only takes a few moments and could make a big difference in the poker community.

The Poker Players Alliance has created a sample letter below, or you can write your own.


Dear Honorable Joint Select Committee Members,

Please support HR 2366 — raise revenue without raising taxes

As a voter and tax payer, I am writing to ask that you please consider H.R. 2366, the Online Poker Act of 2011, during your deficit reduction discussions. This bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX), will provide much needed federal and state revenue without raising taxes. It will also bring American companies into the Internet poker market, creating thousands of new jobs that we so desperately need. It will provide for strong consumer protections and age verification requirements as well.

Former Homeland Security Advisor Tom Ridge supports federal licensing of online poker because it addresses control and accountability of cash flows. Additionally, WiredSafety, the world’s largest Internet safety group, concluded that “combining a thoughtful regulatory scheme with education, technology tools, and support appears to be the most effective means of handling the realities and risks” of online poker. This groundbreaking study can be found at www.theppa.org/harvardstudy <http://www.theppa.org/harvardstudy> . U.S.-based horse race wagering sites have proven that online betting sites can successfully implement these important protections. The game of poker deserves no less.

This bill does not authorize video poker or any other house-banked casino-style game. Rather, it provides for sensible regulation of the game of online poker — the electronic version of the game families across America play at the kitchen table — and is limited to this person-to-person game of skill.

Every federal dollar wasted on efforts to stop American adults from playing online poker is another dollar added to the federal deficit. Quite frankly, there’s simply no reason for the deficit reduction super committee to ignore HR 2366.

Thank you for your consideration,

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