With the recent success of online betting in the US, various groups have been organized to spread the cause to other states. One of those is the newly resurrected Poker Alliance (formerly Poker Players Alliance).
- Currently, online poker playing is legal in only five states
- Poker Alliance hopes to change that
Major updates to the organization
The non-profit Poker Players Alliance, founded as an advocacy group in 2005, lobbied for the rights of poker players and tried to liberalize the game, but it lost its way slightly and ran into a few problems. Despite a mass appeal to members in 2018 to help it out of a financial hole, many thought the PPA would have to shut down.
Enter Poker Central, which took over the company in June 2018 and has given it a new mandate.
New Poker Alliance
The more succinct “Poker Alliance” will try to continue the good work of its predecessor in supporting poker players but its main job will be to advocate for the spread of legalized gambling across the United States. Government relations executive Mark Brenner heads the new organization.
Brenner has made several public appearances to re-state his belief that legalization of online poker in more states can happen and that he wants to foster an environment where players are both respected and protected.
New website and branding
While it has been very quiet the last few months, it seems that the Poker Alliance has now found its voice. It begins 2019 with a fresh website and rebrand, and it has updated its advisory board.
The organization has made a number of changes to its website design and logo. Fans and players can now easily sign up for mailing list updates. The Advisory Board section contains photographs and biographical information for three key prominent poker players who are on that board.
These include Poker Hall of Fame superstar Daniel Negreanu, who has won more than $39.8 million in live tournament play. He was also one of PPA’s earliest investors. There is also Jason Koon, a poker pro who has won more than $23 million in live tournaments and is one of 2018’s highest-earning poker players. And, last but not least, there is Maria Ho, who was inducted into the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame in 2018.
In September, online gambling in the United States was projected to generate $4bn (£3.1bn) in revenue by 2020, according to research group Technavio. That figure is for all online betting, including online casinos and the Internet lottery.
