Audacious PPA Deals a Few Hands to Conservatives

February 27, 2009 (InfoPowa News) — The U.S. poker industry played a game of chance this week by venturing into the backyard of some of its harshest critics — political conservatives — to promote the sport, reports the Washington Post.
 
Stressing that poker is a game of skill and not chance, like roulette, slots or other forms of gambling, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) set up a table at the Conservative Political Action Conference to lobby against local, state, and federal encroachments on both online and offline versions of the card game.
 
"I don't want the government telling me what to do unless I'm hurting you," said 2004 World Series of Poker champion Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, who took part in the initiative. "The only issue is going to be protecting children. I don't believe that adults should be protected from themselves by the government; that's what your family's supposed to do."
 
Raymer was greeted at CPAC by a line of eager autograph seekers, most of whom identified themselves as staunch conservatives, the Post reports.
 
"I think it's a great idea," Tim Peabody, a student from Bryant University, said of the group's presence at the conference. Peabody said he considers himself a social conservative even though he supports the right of adults to play poker. "You can't categorize everybody into one group," he said.