August 29th, 2008
excerpt:
Denver — Not long after Congress passed a ban on Internet gambling, PR man John Pappas knew he had to be here at the Democratic National Convention.
Pappas represented online poker players. Their ragtag Poker Players Alliance had been stunned by Congress’ midnight approval of the ban late in 2006.
Internet gamblers had been powerless to block the bill. They were only loosely affiliated. They often knew one another only by their online nicknames.
But they did have computers and they had passion. Over the following 18 months, they learned quickly about the nexus of politics and influence.
Tuesday night, this once odd lot of online gamblers transformed Coors Field, home of Colorado’s major league baseball team, into a poker palace, and they invited the very targets of their ire — lawmakers who had banned their gambling. In short, they put on a poker face.
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Web poker banned, they play politics - Las Vegas Sun
Author Contact Info: Lisa Mascaro, Las Vegas Sun
