PPA’s Pappas Says Poker Needs Other Gambling Games To Survive

Home » Poker News » PPA’s Pappas Says Poker Needs Other Gambling Games To Survive

Wednesday, October 15th, 2014 | Written by Shane Larson

The ‘Restoration of America´s Wire Act’ (RAWA) is expected to be debated in Congress’ during the forthcoming lame duck session (November 9-26) and if the bill is eventually passed into law all forms of online gambling will subsequently be prohibited, with the exception of internet pari-mutuel horse race betting and fantasy sports betting.

Ahead of the debate, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) had indicated it might be open to a bill with an online poker carve-out passing, even if other online gambling games were banned, but now PPA executive director John Pappas (photo) has signaled an about face after suggesting online poker on its own would have little chance of taking root in the USA without the support online casino games.

PPA would support legalized online poker only bill

In 2012, Pappas indicated that the PPA’s loyalty to poker meant it could support a federal bill suggested by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and Senator Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) at the time seeking to legalize just online poker at the expense of other gambling games.

Despite Pappa’s recent reversal of opinion on the subject, he has still indicated his loyalty was still to online poker, and talking to NJ.com this week, stated :

“If there was a bill that banned online casino games but legalized online poker at the federal level, we would support that all day long,” he said.

Maybe Not!

Now, however, Pappas seems to believe even a partial ban on online gambling games would act against the interests of online players, and severely curb the potential of the industry. As he explains:

“We as a poker community need to recognize that the success of poker often is built on other forms of gaming. If you cut off all other games in the US market, investment and interest would shrink considerably.”

Helping to explain the PPA’s reversal of opinion is the fact pre-2012 there existed high hopes online poker would be a huge industry generating hundreds of millions of dollars each year on its own. Unfortunately, that myth has since been shattered following regulation and roughly a year’s worth of revenue results from the legalized markets of New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. End conclusion, online poker accounts for around 20% of total iGaming revenues generated by the state, which amounts to around $120 million each year for New Jersey, $12 million for Nevada, and a mere $3 million for Delaware, a combined $135 million per annum in total iPoker revenues.

More clarification, please

No wonder poker interest groups have expressed bewilderment over the PPA’s conflicting messages, with many players subsequently taking to the forums to express their confusion over the organization’s statement.

Nevertheless, it would now seem that what Pappas was trying to say is that he may support a poker “carve-out” bill that legalized the game at a federal level, but that any such “carve-out” that allowed states to decide on legalization on an individual basis represented a continuation of the status quo, and so would be opposed. In other words, if poker sites were able to offer their online products across the whole of the USA the industry could thrive from large player pools, but conversely individual states surviving on their own would need online casino gaming to bolster revenues.

“We’re going to fight tooth and nail to protect the interests of poker players, but poker-only in the US might not be a sustainable model to benefit players, long-term.. If you cut off all other games in the US market, investment and interest would shrink considerably.”

Republican majority in Senate a bigger threat

However, John Pappas has publicly warned that the PPA was pessimistic about a RAWA poker carve-out, considering Sheldon Adelson´s well-reported opinion on Internet poker, calling it “a threat to our society — a toxin which all good people ought to resist.” Adelson, together with his coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, has vowed to spend whatever it takes to ban iGaming in America, and so the PPA may just wait to see if the RAWA passes in Congress before weighing in to negotiate an online poker carve-out.

Perhaps of greater concern to the PPA than the forthcoming lame duck session is the predicted Republican majority in the Senate next year. Adelson is a major donor to the Republican party, and so such a scenario would undoubtedly increase support for Adelson’s cause.

“I think that puts poker in an even more precarious position,” explained PPA executive director John Pappas.