KENTUCKY ACTIVITY FOR PPA

28 September 2007

Legalise poker in the commonwealth, urges poker pressure group


The Poker Players Alliance is stepping into a Kentucky state political wrangle over poker to help raise support for the game after Governor Ernie Fletcher took up an anti-gambling and anti-poker stance during his re-election campaign.

In a press release, the Washington-based PPA announces its initiative thus: "In response to Governor Ernie Fletcher's election-year change of heart with regard to allowing Kentuckians to vote on gaming in the commonwealth, the Kentucky members of the 760 000-member Poker Players Alliance have kicked off an advocacy campaign in support of poker."

The PPA's Kentucky State Director Rich Muny will head the campaign, and has urged Kentucky voters to contact the governor and other local and state politicians to express strong opposition to anti-poker efforts by the state.

"Governor Fletcher is running not on his achievements of the past four years, but on a campaign of distraction," Muny said. "In the process, Fletcher has demonized the good folks who enjoy the game of poker."

Early responses to the campaign are reported to be encouraging, with several hundred e-mails already sent to the governor, and many more forthcoming according to the PPA.

"Tell him you'll vote for your freedom and for Kentucky," Muny said.

The governor's political opponent, Steve Beshear, is promoting a public vote to allow limited expanded gambling to help provide revenue for state necessities like improved education and health care.

The PPA points out that currently states such as Indiana have casinos with cardrooms deliberately located close to Kentucky's borders, taking the business and revenue from the state, and proving that there is a strong Kentucky appetite for gambling recreation. Each year hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians cross the state's borders to other states where gambling is allowed.

It is estimated that if Kentucky allowed expanded gaming within the state, it could generate revenues exceeding a billion dollars.

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