Internet Gambling Phone March on Capitol Hill Today a Success

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"Life is 6 to 5 Against"
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Nice job, guys. Thanks to everybody who made the effort! :103631605


Internet Gambling Phone March on Capitol Hill Today a Success
written September 12, 2006
I spent several hours today tracking the volume of phone calls to different Senators' offices around the United States today and here is what I came up with.
In Virginia, at 3 PM EST, Senator Allen's office told me I was the 26th person to call voicing my dissatisfaction over HR 4411 and my other Senator's office, Senator Warner is reporting that perhaps two dozen people called to complain about the Internet gambling bill.
So, I got a little bit more daring and tried a bigger market, namely New York. I specifically asked for Hillary Clinton's office. Before I could get a word out of my mouth, her spokesman asked, Are you from the Poker alliance, calling about the Internet Gambling Bill?"
When I said, "no, I was against the sports betting part of it too," he said, "you are the 33rd person to call in the past hour alone!"
And he also stated, "I'd bet there have been over 100 calls to this office today about this issue." When I mentioned to him that he may not be able to use the "bet" word soon, we both starting laughing.
Getting more ambitious, I went out West to Senator Boxer's office in California. I was told about 50 people had called her office throughout the day but then again, it was only NOON over there.
Then I called Senator Richard Durbin's office in Illinois only to get a recording stating, "due to a high volume of calls, please try your call again."
So, I called the other Senator's office in Illinois, Senator Obama, and after I was put on hold for 5 minutes, a man answered the phone and we began talking. The spokes person doubted that the Internet Gambling Bill would come to the Senate floor this year, and said Obama hadn't taken a position on it and it was considered "low priority." He believed around 65 people had called the office before I had.
Last but not least, I called Senator John Cornyn's office in Texas, where a young lad and I got into a half hour debate after he told me the Senator was in support of the bill. The good news is he told me he had received between 100-200 calls today from people expressing opposition to the Internet Gambling bill. The bad news is that he was "clueless" and didn't know what he was talking about when we debated. Gosh, where is CNN when you need them?
Overall, it appears to me from scouting different areas of the country today that apparently, at least five thousand calls were made collectively to one hundred Senators.
Could it make a difference?
Judging from the offices I spoke to on the phone today, they all believed it can (except that guy from Cornyn's office).
It's really anyone's guess as to whether or not this bill is brought up before the Senate adjourns for the year which at the earliest is October 6, but may be extended.
For those who enjoy Internet Gambling, I sincerely believe that the "phone march" today was a great success but I wouldn't stop now.
I strongly advocate repeating this process once per week until the Senate recesses for good this year.
What about next Tuesday?
written by Kenneth Weitzner
 
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I called 2 senators today and both offices said similar things to the article.
 

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So, I called the other Senator's office in Illinois, Senator Obama, and after I was put on hold for 5 minutes, a man answered the phone and we began talking. The spokes person doubted that the Internet Gambling Bill would come to the Senate floor this year, and said Obama hadn't taken a position on it and it was considered "low priority." He believed around 65 people had called the office before I had.
 

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Nice. I called Jon Porter's team and instead of giving them the protect poker BS I asked why do we have troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan if some element in our country is working to limit our freedoms. Porter always billing himself as a Reagan-style Republican his staffer just ran on about the internet research bill. These f***ers don't care what we say. They have an agenda, they execute the agenda, they get paid for it by donors. Aren't we lucky to be the world's greatest democracy???
 

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WildBill said:
Nice. I called Jon Porter's team and instead of giving them the protect poker BS I asked why do we have troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan if some element in our country is working to limit our freedoms. Porter always billing himself as a Reagan-style Republican his staffer just ran on about the internet research bill. These f***ers don't care what we say. They have an agenda, they execute the agenda, they get paid for it by donors. Aren't we lucky to be the world's greatest democracy???

I don't necessarily disagree with your assessment that politicians don't care what we say and have their own agenda. Further, I couldn't be more certain that politicians are hugely corrupt. That said, the way I see it, we have two options as it relates to this bill:

1) Do nothing

2) Do anything we can

Thanks for trying, WildBill.
 

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Thousands of Online Poker Players Speak Out Against Internet Gambling Ban

http://www.pocketfives.com/8F2646D5-54ED-42E1-B784-50B4B641C7F2.aspx

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=433><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Thousands of Online Poker Players Speak Out Against Internet Gambling Ban </TD></TR><TR><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">by Dan on 9/13/2006 10:59 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" vAlign=top><NOBR></NOBR></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=433>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>NASHVILLE, Tennessee – In an era where technology reigns supreme, PocketFives.com (www.pocketfives.com), the voice of the online poker player, and the Poker Players Alliance teamed up to fight the pending internet gambling legislation the old-fashioned way: encouraging concerned citizens to pick up the telephone and voice their opinion. The PocketFives.com and Poker Players Alliance Phone March on Washington, a grassroots campaign designed to combat the current internet gambling legislation in Congress, generated thousands of calls by people from all over the country. The message: Do not ban online poker in the United States; regulate the great American pastime.

“We’re very excited that so many online poker players and internet gamblers came out in support of the Phone March on Washington,” said PocketFives.com President Cal Spears. “The threat to online poker is real. We hope our Senators heard our message loud and clear today: Do not ban online poker in the United States.” The bill in question, H.R. 4411, passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin, 317-93, in July. The Senate then went on recess and resumed session just after Labor Day. “Calling elected officials’ offices shows a great amount of courage and passion for our cause,” said Spears. A spokesperson for Senator Mel Martinez’s (R-FL) office agreed: If you call, "we will take you seriously."

PocketFives.com would like to recognize several groups that helped to make the day a success. NeverWinPoker.com allowed PocketFives.com Marketing Director Dan Cypra to appear on the site’s radio show Saturday night, September 9.

WickedChopsPoker.com urged its members to participate in the Phone March in Washington; CardPlayer Magazine did the same. Online poker sites also helped PocketFives.com and the Poker Players Alliance reach members: FullTilt, Doyles Room, Bodog, and PokerStars were heavily involved in the effort. “The unity of the online poker groups really shows how far our industry has come,” says Spears. “We appreciate everyone’s involvement.”
The Phone March on Washington was resoundingly noticed by Congressional offices. A representative from Senator Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) office claimed that the staff had been receiving calls “once every few minutes.” The same was true at Senator Edward Kennedy’s (D-MA) headquarters: “We have received a steady stream of calls all day today.” At Senator Charles Schumer’s (D-NY) office, a spokesperson said they had received “a significant number of calls on the issue.” A staffer at Senator Bill Frist’s (R-TN) offices claimed, “The Senator has not come out with a public statement on the issue. We have been working on developing a written response to today’s calls, but do not have anything right now.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) position on the issue echoed that of the callers today: “The Senator is not in favor of a ban. She favors regulation in order to prevent children from gambling,” said a representative. Online poker players nationwide can say they have done as much as possible to prevent such a ban from occurring. Now, they must wait and see how loudly their voices have been heard. “I think we sent a message today,” said Spears. “PocketFives.com will continue to be a leader in legislative initiatives and once again thank you to everyone who made the Phone March on Washington a success. Visit www.pocketfives.com for all the updates on H.R. 4411."
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 

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WildBill said:
Nice. I called Jon Porter's team and instead of giving them the protect poker BS I asked why do we have troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan if some element in our country is working to limit our freedoms. Porter always billing himself as a Reagan-style Republican his staffer just ran on about the internet research bill. These f***ers don't care what we say. They have an agenda, they execute the agenda, they get paid for it by donors. Aren't we lucky to be the world's greatest democracy???
thats what i have said too, no matter what you tell them your feelings are on it, they vote their party's way anyway!

Its truly sad
 

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They care about two things:

Money
Votes.

Getting a phone call every 3 minutes says if you vote in favor of this thing you are gonna lose votes. If someone calls a senator's office every 3 minutes, there are thousands of others who feel the same way. Very few people call. These people care about votes.

You may gain a few votes if you make online gambling illegal. You certainly will lose many.

YOu will not lose votes by not bringing this bill up.

I think we should all call again in a few days. - can't hurt.

-Sean
 

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