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PPA Executive Director John Pappas Testi ies be ore a !"S" #on$ressiona% #ommittee on the Future o &n%ine Po'er
Washington, DC (December 10, 2013) John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, testified today before the ouse !ubcommittee on "ommerce, #anufacturing and $rade on the importance of creating a licensed and regulated %nternet poker market in the &nited !tates through '(' )***, the %nternet Poker +reedom Act' Pappas began his testimony noting that the PPA has been at the forefront of advocating for strong consumer protections and accountability in the online gaming industry' $herefore, the organi,ation is in strong support of "ongressman -arton.s bill '(' )*** which /mandates technologies to protect consumers from fraud, eliminate underage access, and mitigate compulsive gambling behaviors none of which exists today or would exist under a prohibition'0 /1stablishing a regulatory regime for online gaming in the &'!' would minimi,e unlicensed activities, generate significant tax revenue for the federal government and states and create thousands of high tech 2obs benefits the states are recogni,ing and acting to embrace,0 Pappas continued' Pappas also addressed allegations of those advocating for a ban on %nternet poker by providing facts on how a combination of regulation and technology can meet these current challenges' !olutions to these four issues3 keeping children safe, ensuring identity verification, protecting problem gamblers, and deterring criminals, are outlined below3 To prevent underage gambling: 4aming site operators are re5uired to implement state of the art age verification software before being licensed and before accounts are opened and bets settled' To ensure identit veri!ication: All online betting companies re5uire customers to open an account to make a bet' %dentity verification and know6your6customer re5uirements in the regulated online gaming space are as robust as those in the online banking space' To protect problem gamblers: 7nline gaming operators have more effective and sophisticated tools to prevent and combat problem gaming than brick6and6mortar casinos' #ost regulated online gaming markets have re5uired their licensees to ensure that measures are in place to prevent and combat issues associated with problem gaming' To deter criminals: %t is far better for the players. financial fate if the safety and security of %nternet gaming transactions are in the hands of the &'!' banking system and the

responsible and regulated American gaming corporations' Prohibition will only play into the hands of the criminal element' %n concluding his testimony, Pappas urged "ongress to enact the -arton bill to provide &'!' players with a safe and well6regulated place to play poker on the %nternet and, at a minimum, to do nothing to prevent states from licensing and regulating %nternet poker' A full copy of the testimony can be found here' About The Poker Players Alliance The Poker Players Alliance (www.theppa.org; http://twitter.com/ppapoker; www.facebook.com/theppa) is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of o er !"###"### online and offline poker players and enth$siasts from aro$nd the %nited &tates who ha e 'oined together to speak with one oice to promote the game and to protect poker players( rights. 888