Alfonse D’AmatoChairman
Alfonse D’Amato served as United States Senator from New York from 1981 to 1999.
During that time he led as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. In addition, as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator D’Amato worked on tax-relief initiatives for working, middle class families.
His decades of public service and deep understanding of the political process will be instrumental in our efforts to ensure that you can continue to enjoy the game of poker in the venue of your choosing.
John PappasExecutive Director
John Pappas has been engaged in high-level policy and political consulting in Washington, D.C., for the last ten years. Prior to taking a full-time position as vice president of government affairs for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) he was a public affairs consultant for the Washington PR firm Dittus Communications. During his four years at Dittus, Pappas served as a media and policy advisor for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, start-up firms, trade associations and grassroots organizations like the PPA.
Greg DinkinProfessional Poker Player & Published Author
Greg Dinkin has played poker for more than 15 years. He honed his skills during a college internship at the Mirage in Las Vegas, where he played poker whenever he wasn’t on the clock. Aside from his credentials as a skilled player, Greg is also a well-known author and columnist. He has written a number of books about poker and business, and his columns run regularly in Card Player magazine.
Chris FergusonWSOP Champion
Chris Ferguson can’t remember a time when he wasn’t playing cards. He might say his poker career started in the fourth grade when his losing hand cost him 35 cents. He was determined to never to go broke again.
In high school, Chris was making $2 per hour playing with friends every weekend in nickel and dime games. Soon, Chris and his friends made their first pilgrimage to Vegas.
In 1989, Chris discovered the IRC Poker Network. On IRC, hundreds of players from around the world gathered in a text-only chat room to play poker - no money involved. In the mid-1990s, Chris began playing on the IRC network and, after a number of years, his name was consistently listed in one of the top two positions on the board.
Jan FisherPoker Entrepreneur
Jan started her poker career in 1977 when she moved from Seattle, Wash. to Las Vegas, Nev. to become a poker dealer. Having dealt in many of the card rooms in Vegas before, Fisher moved on to semi-professional playing and management. Currently, she serves as a partner of Card Player Cruises along with Linda Johnson and Mark Tenner. She also hosts and directs the semi-annual Oasis Open poker tournament, held at the Oasis Resort and Spa in Mesquite, Nev. She is a founder of the Tournament Directors Association and has served as the tournament director for the highly successful PartyPoker.com Million events.
Allyn Jaffrey ShulmanLegal Analyst, Consultant
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman is one of the world’s leading legal experts on online gambling law. Having been a courtroom attorney and practicing criminal defense for over 20 years, her expertise lies in the area of complex legal analysis and issues of constitutional magnitude. She is an international consultant on U.S. gaming law and the legal analyst for Card Player Media.
Linda JohnsonProfessional Poker Player, Publisher, Entrepreneur
Referred to as the “first lady of poker, Linda Johnson taught herself to play the game at an early age. In 1980, after finishing 5th in the WSOP Ladies Seven-Card Stud Tournament, Linda quit her job to move to Las Vegas and become a professional poker player. In 1997, she became the second woman in history to win a World Series open event.
Howard LedererWPT Champion
Growing up in a family of five in New Hampshire, Howard Lederer spent much of his childhood engrossed in card games on the family room floor. The Lederer family played all sorts of card games together, including poker. Howard credits his father for preparing him for the competitive world of high-stakes poker.
At age 18, Howard deferred college for a year and moved to New York to pursue his passion for chess. He soon discovered a poker game in the back room of his favorite chess club and was immediately hooked.
In the mid-1980s, Howard made big strides in his game when he started to play at the Mayfair Club in New York. He became part of a circle of world-class games players who were the first to experiment with no-limit hold ‘em when it was first introduced in New York City.
Mary MagazineAttorney, Magistrate
Mary Magazine is an attorney licensed to practice in Florida and New York. She spent eight years as a sitting Magistrate for Miami-Dade County, Florida. She is one of the members of the Poker Players Alliance. She has played in many poker charity events in Florida and in several World Series events.
Rich MunyPoker Player, Mechanical Engineer
Rich Muny, raised in Florida and now living in Kentucky, is an engineer and poker player who is very active in grassroots Internet poker advocacy efforts. He is best known in the blogosphere for his weekly action plan, “Fight for Online Gaming”, and for “Politicians For and Against Online Poker”, a monthly article that rates every congressman for their support of Internet poker rights. Both articles are posted here and on several other pro-poker websites.
Rich has been a tireless advocate for Internet poker rights since UIGEA passed, and he has successfully organized like-minded poker players to work together in unison on various campaigns for Internet poker.
Greg RaymerWSOP Champion, Lawyer
Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, born in Minot, North Dakota and raised in Lansing, Michigan, followed a traditional path with his schooling - attending law school and becoming a licensed patent attorney. But his life took a decidedly different turn when Greg tried to use his knowledge and skills to make history.
In 2004, Greg won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Championship and collected the largest purse ever paid to a winner of a poker tournament: $5 million.
