Poker Player’s Alliance Reaches Petition Goal

Earlier this month, the Poker Player’s Alliance (PPA) started a petition asking the Obama Administration to regulate online poker. It believes that if enough voters sign the petition, the Administration will take its position seriously.
The PPA launched the petition after the White House asked citizens to organize petitions on issues they felt were important. The White House’s website said that any petitions with enough signatures would be reviewed by policy experts.
The White House requires petitions to have at least 5,000 signatures to be considered. However, it warned that it may have to raise that standard if an unexpected number of petitions have that many signatures.
The PPA was sure it could meet that benchmark within 30 days. The petition ended up getting much more support than it expected. It reached its goal of 5,000 signatures in only 72 hours.
Rich Muny is the vice president of public relations at the PPA. He wants to make sure that Obama and his administration understand American’s sentiments towards online gambling. Muny and other representatives feel the number of signatures they’ve received so far is impressive, but are not sure they are enough.
More signatures may be needed to emphasize how strongly voters feel about regulating online poker. The PPA wants everyone interested in legalizing online poker to add their John Hancock to the petition. Muny says players should encourage their friends and family members to sign the petition as well.
The petition to legalize online gambling is one of the most successful so far. To date, 86 petitions have been submitted and only 20 have more signatures than the PPA’s. A third of those petitions advocate the legalization of marijuana and the White House may not feel it is necessary to respond to each of them. This could mean the PPA’s petition is in the top 15 that would seriously be considered.
The petition must be submitted by October 22. The PPA is optimistic it will get more signatures over the next four weeks. Muny and his colleagues feel additional signatures will make an even more compelling case to the Obama Administration.
How many signatures do you think the PPA’s petition will receive? What impact do you think it will have on the Obama Administration? Share your thoughts in the comments below.