They say that the best defense is a good offense, and the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is really taking this philosophy to heart in 2015. No longer content to sit back and defend online poker against Sheldon Adelson and the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), they have really attacked efforts to ban iGaming this year. Below you can see the biggest four attacks launched by the PPA in hopes of discrediting Adelson and his political minions.
1. PPA runs ad in Washington Post to bash crony capitalism
All along, PPA President John Pappas has accused Adelson of crony capitalism, where business people align themselves closely with government officials in hopes of more success. Well, the PPA took this criticism a step further by running a late-February ad in the Washington Post about the “Cronyism Casino,” in reference to Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp. Here’s a look at how the ad read:
“Online Poker Ban: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. One billionaire casino owner has pledged to ‘spend whatever it takes’ to ban states from authorizing online gaming. Money talks – legislation has just been introduced in the 114th Congress.”
“But this is bigger than online gaming. This is crony capitalism at its worst, and this legislation hijacks the very conservative principles we are celebrating this week: states’ rights, personal freedom and internet freedom.”
“Today it’s online gaming. What will it be tomorrow?”
2. Pappas pokes fun at Adelson camp’s no-show
In early March, at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the PPA organized a debate dubbed “Full House Who’s Got the Winning Hand?” Their hope was that Sands Senior VP Andy Abboud would show up for the discussion; but Abboud chose to ignore the invitation, prompting Pappas to call him out afterward.
“I guess when the rubber meets the road, prohibition supporters realize they can’t back up their fear-mongering PR campaign with actual facts,” said the PPA’s lead man.
3. PPA questions credentials of pro-RAWA witnesses
Adelson’s political donations and connections helped him land a RAWA congressional subcommittee meeting this month. The meeting never happened because of bad weather, but that didn’t stop headlines from being made when the PPA issued this less-than-favorable opinion of the witnesses who were set to speak:
“The opponents of your freedom to play online, led by casino magnate billionaire Sheldon Adelson, have stacked the deck for this hearing. They have loaded the witness panel with anti-poker zealots who have no real world knowledge of how Internet poker works.”
4. Petition offered to criticize subcommittee meeting
The PPA didn’t just stop with words when bashing the subcommittee witnesses. They also offered a petition on their website (up until March 5th) that allowed poker proponents to voice their complaints on what was happening with the meeting. The petition is now gone, however, we can only expect further such efforts as Adelson continues to use his wealth and power to influence government officials.