Poker Players Alliance Spends Large Sums on Lobbying Efforts

(Associated Press) The Poker Players Alliance spent $283,000 in the second quarter to lobby in favor of licensed and regulated Internet poker in the U.S., according to a disclosure report filed July 21.

The group lobbied the federal government on a bill that would exempt poker and some other games from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which Congress passed in 2006. The law made it illegal for U.S. banks and credit-card companies to process payments to online gambling businesses, with some exceptions.

In the April-to-June period, the Washington, D.C.-based group lobbied both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, according to the report filed with the House clerk's office.

Alfonse D'Amato, the former Republican senator from New York, serves as the Poker Players Alliance's chairman. John Pappas, who worked for Republican Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona, is registered to lobby for the group.