Friday, September 08, 2006

Our Elected Official's Stance on Poker

Thought it would be a good idea to find out where our elected officials and upcoming candidates stand when it comes to poker. I urge you all to write to them and then post here when you get a response. I will go down the list and send them e-mails as well...all responses will be logged here!!! If there is someone in particular you would like to hear from, please let me know. Please get involved!!

I have put the letter i'm sending out in the comments. You will notice i stay away from the "your view on gambling" approach. As we as poker players know, the gambling/luck factor of our game is heavily outweighed by the skill involved. Furthermore, when use the "G" word it often conjures up images completely unrelated to our game. Plus it would be very easy for the recipients to come back with the......"i don't support any escalation in gambling in Alaska" cop out, when in fact, we are not talking about that at all!!! Once the uninitiated realize that poker is a complex, highly skilled game we will be much better off!

9 Comments:

Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

Here's the letter i'm sending out....please write to your representative in a similar fashion.

Dear Representative,

I am the co-founder of the Alaska Poker Association, we are an organization set out to forward the poker playing opportunities within our state. We run tournaments every day throughout the state, with regions in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, Palmer, Fairbanks, Juneau and denali park. We also run tournaments for Fur Rondy and the Iditarod. We have a membership base of over 800 men and women from all walks of life and we are growing very fast.

Recently some members had asked us to contact our elected and potentially elected officials concerning some topics that affect us, then gather them and post on our website...so we would really appreciate you answering the following questions:

What is your general opinion of poker and poker playing in Alaska? This would include private home games and their legality and the proliferation of highly popular free to play tournaments at bars and restaurants throughout the state. Finally, would you support a bill that would allow these established businesses to hold charity poker tournaments where people could play for money/prizes for a nominal entry fee (between $10 - $100)?

As a note: The APA was against the recent bill trying to set up card rooms, as we felt they would negatively effect the existing service businesses in their area coupled with the potential for monies made, to leave Alaska. We are more interested in buy-in poker tournaments at existing bars and restaurants for charitable causes....numerous charities have contacted us to question their viability and legality.

We look forward to hearing from you, thanks in advance, Wayne

2:29 PM  
Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

Thanks for the comment Jason. I have no doubt the majority of Alaskans feel the same.

The bottom line is, poker is a very intricate, complex game of skill. We need to continually emphasize this in our dealings with our representatives. We shouldn't be lumped in with pure games of chance like pull-tabs and bingo. The quicker we can convince them of this fact the easier it will be to push forward some sensible legislature.

4:20 PM  
Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

OK I have started to send out the e-mails to our representatives, the first four i have sent are to

Sarah Palin
Mark Begich
Ted Stevens
Lisa Murkowski

I will post here all replies. If any of you have similar contact, please post your responses here too.

4:25 PM  
Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

Sadly James, you are right on! Somewhere along the line most politicians, at all levels, have lost the fact that they are in "power" to serve the people but are rather using their position to further their own goals and agendas.

As an example, at a Wasilla High football game last year, i asked a certain representative from Chugiak his opinion on poker. After i rec'd the usual "escalation of gambling" speech, i asked him would he support its legalization in some form if 100% of his constituents supported it? He said NO.

Enough said!!

11:51 PM  
Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

The first response has arrived from Sarah Palin's office....


Wayne,

Thank you for writing in with your questions.

In response to your questions about what Sarah’s general opinion of poker and poker playing in Alaska, please know that Sarah recognizes that poker tournaments run on an entertainment basis are benign in nature and provide many with a form of enjoyment and entertainment.

While she makes note that poker games have the potential to be good for fundraising and charity events, there are many concerns regarding expansion of legalized gambling for purposes other than these. Sarah in general opposes the expansion of legalized gambling.

Please note that we understand that the legislature rejected the legalization of large scale traditional Las Vegas style gambling. The reasons apparently included a long list of questions and concerns that include the addition of social issues such as addiction problems.

While poker is the least egregious of all of gambling related activities, again it should be noted that the legislature recently rejected the expansion of gambling that afforded the introduction of poker rooms. Sarah does not support an approach that eliminates the ability for the legislature to maintain safeguards they employ when considering new bills.

Please join me in supporting Sarah Palin for governor,
Anita Halterman for Sarah Palin

1:23 AM  
Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

I responded with.......

Dear Anita,

Thank you for the timely response.

The first paragraph and a half, really addresses our questions, and i'm happy to see Sarah sees the potential of poker tournaments to be an excellent source of charity and fundraising revenue. This is the area we will concentrate our efforts going forward and hope to be able to propose sensible legislation, of this nature, that will eventually be adopted.

Poker, unfortunately, carries with it a stigma of many negative facets of our society. This perception is gradually being broken down as more and more people become exposed to it, and realize what a wonderful, complex game it is. Unfortunately, Hollywood and its misguided representation of poker has not helped us, but the diverse cross-section of our communities that play at our tournaments are testament to its widespread popularity and potential. No longer is it a thing of smoky back-rooms, nor is it something that attracts undesirable elements that some people seem to believe go hand in hand with it. Poker is a mainstream game that has grown phenomenally over the last few years and has slowly but surely separated itself from games of chance that uninformed people like to associate with it.

I understand why you address "Vegas-style" gambling issues later in your response, but this has no relation to what we are trying to achieve. Poker is not a game of chance and we are in no way advocating the introduction of casino house games. We just want to play the game we love in a safe, controlled environment that benefits both the players, local businesses and the people of our state.

Your response will be posted on our web site for our members to view and discuss it.

We sincerely hope we can work together on this issue in the future,

Best of luck,

Wayne

APA
www.AlaskaPokerAssociation.com

1:24 AM  
Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

So what do you think?

1:24 AM  
Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

Sam, i have to agree, a personal response would be have been better. However, before she reverted to the "escalation of gambling" later in the response the comments were quite positive. How do we separate poker from the games of chance in people's minds? I guess continue to educate over and over!

4:18 PM  
Blogger Alaska Poker Association said...

Here's the latest batch of representatives we have contacted to hear their views. I urge you to take these e-mail addresses and write some questions yourself. As always everyone of their responses will be posted here.

senator_ralph_seekins@legis.state.ak.us rep_pete_kott@legis.state.ak.us senator_con_bunde@legis.state.ak.us senator_fred_dyson@legis.state.ak.us senator_john_cowdery@legis.state.ak.us senator_Gretchen_guess@legis.state.ak.us senator_lyda_green@legis.state.ak.us rep_vic_kohring@legis.state.ak.us senator_charlie_huggins@legis.state.ak.us rep_mark_neuman@legis.state.ak.us rep_bill_stoltze@legis.state.ak.us rep_carl_gatto@legis.state.ak.us, rep_john_harris@legis.state.ak.us

2:56 AM  

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