EDIT: I am aware of the site issues below the first few posts. Working on it now.

I have been a member of the Poker Player’s Alliance for a long long time. My member number is 36946. There are almost a million members now. We have done quite a few comics in support of them over the years and I am directly responsible for dozens of signups. As as site I would say we are also responsible for hundreds if not thousands of new members. So I would like to think my voice matters to them. We will see.

Early last year sometime I ran a poll asking our readers if they thought the PPA was doing enough as an organization in the “fight” for players rights. Overwhelmingly you voted NO. Almost a year later and confidence is still just as low. Now some of you have been emailing me saying you have “canceled” your memberships. It is more symbolic than anything since they already have your fee, but I applaud your motives. I just may do the same here soon if things don’t change.

I am motivated to gripe specifically due to the scandals that have rocked the online poker world the last year. The questions are really simple; What is the PPA’s stance on any one of these issues? How come they have not condemned the actions of Absolute Poker? Why are they not using the numbers of it’s members to gain national media attention? Why are they not capitalizing on these moments to interject themselves into the spotlight and raise awareness to the issue of government regulation? How come they aren’t on TV more? One would think a million people should be heard. How come I the only email I received from them in months was a copy of the candidates and their views on gaming? Now I appreciate that effort as simplistic as it was. But why have they not utilized that 800 thousand plus email list they have to warn their members of unethical and criminal behavior of a well known poker room?

Where do the member dues go?

As members of this organization we have the right to have the answer to each and every one of those questions. I mean really. What are they doing over there? Nobody ever thought that it might be a good idea to get out a mailing list and do a regular newsletter?

I have decided to ask them some of these questions via their forums. I suggest all who read this join me over there and lets see if we can’t get some answers. Let them know what you think.

Now another problem I am having is with the media coverage or lack of. Absolute’s numbers from what I hear are not suffering. It is as if nobody cares the site they play on was cheating their own customers and at the highest level. I don’t think that is the case. I think the people just don’t know. This story should be poker’s Britney Spears. Did any of the major magazines post it in big bold headlines on the cover? With the exception of the forums and blogs how much attention has been given to it? If I were running a magazine I would have done a black cover with big red letters, “Cheating Rocks The Online Poker World“… It should be a dead horse beaten so badly that we need another horse to beat. And it sure looks like UB might be that horse. Yippy Ki yay!

If the majority of Absolute players knew what was really going on that site would collapse. What also needs to happen is these so called celebrity endorsers need to abandon ship and the high stakes players need to move to another site. Full Tilt should try and recruit these players with some sort of bonus. I suggested in another blog that if someone provides proof of a canceled Absolute or Ultimate Bet account they should get a bonus. Come on Full Tilt… STEP UP.

I am going to actively seek the cooperation of my fellow bloggers and those in the media to call for an all out boycott of Absolute Poker, Ultimate Bet , and any other similar properties. This goes for everyone. Anyone who claims they care about this game should have no problem participating. I am calling you all out. The bloggers, the magazines, the radio shows, the news portals, EVERYONE! It really is pretty simple.. Stop playing on these sites, stop advertisements, make the public aware, give them the bad press they deserve! BOYCOTT in every sense of the word.

Another thing I hope happens is there needs to be full disclosure out of Kahnawake. What did they know, when, who owns what, how many other casinos do they or someone connected to them own? How many complaints go unresolved or unchecked? Why are the penalties always monetary and directly paid to Kahnawake? etc… etc.. Where is the investigative journalism in poker media? Do we have any? There are a few of you out there. Now is your time to shine.

The PPA could get national media attention on this if they wanted to. So why don’t they? If the idea is to get government regulation you would think they would welcome these scandals with open arms. It is perfect firepower for the argument. It all also seems like an interesting story for a Dateline or 20/20. The Absolute scandal has everything. Really any one of these recent scandals would make for good media TV… They just need to know about it and have the right pressure applied to report on it. It’s a little different when a representative of a million people calls the news desk than it is for the average person with a strongly worded email scooping a story.

You know… Maybe I don’t know what I am talking about. It might not be as simple as I think for the PPA to act. I am afterall just the comic guy. But hopefully I can get some ball rolling and we can start to reclaim the game. Online poker created the boom and online poker will kill the game.. Are we going to let it?