No Really, D'Amato Tapped as Poker Players Alliance Chairman

This is the third time we've reported this but now the deal has officially been inked and former U.S. Senator Al D'Amato is the Poker Players Alliance's new Chairman of the Board.

Read a NY Times article on D'Amato's new role and poker background here.

Press release from the PPA after the jump...

Poker Aficionado and former U.S. Senator to Lead Efforts to Protect One of
America's Pastimes

WASHINGTON, March 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Poker Players
Alliance (PPA), a grassroots organization of more than 160,000 poker
enthusiasts, announced today that former United States Senator Alfonse
D'Amato has joined the PPA to serve as Chairman of the Board and help lead
efforts in Washington D.C. to protect the game of poker.

"I have had a passion for poker since my childhood, and for politics
almost as long. This new position will allow me to fuse these passions and
help establish sensible policy that allows Americans to enjoy the great
game of poker in the venue of their choosing," said Alfonse D'Amato, the
new Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance.

"We are thrilled to have Senator D'Amato take up our cause to promote
and protect the game played by millions of Americans. His enthusiasm,
tenacity and political astuteness will bolster the influence of the PPA and
help earn poker a much deserved exemption from the recent online gaming
law," said Michael Bolcerek, president of the PPA. "For the past 18 months
Linda Johnson, the First Lady of Poker, skillfully lead our organization as
Chairwoman, today the First Senator of Poker will lead the charge."

It is estimated that more than 23 million Americans enjoyed playing
poker on the Internet in 2006. Yet, the recent government crackdown on
Internet gaming has swept poker into its net of prohibition and have made
it increasingly difficult for poker players to enjoy this great form of
entertainment on the Internet. The Poker Players Alliance will be working
with Congress to provide a skill game exemption for poker and pave the way
for eventual regulation and taxation of the industry in the United States.

"Prohibitions don't work, they only create unintended consequences. The
American people know this and we are going to make sure Congress knows it
too," said Senator D'Amato. "We need common sense regulation of Internet
poker. Prohibition will only drive the industry underground and strip away
any protections for children and services for problem gamblers."

The Poker Players Alliance was formed in 2005 to protect the right of
poker players to enjoy the great American tradition of poker in the venue
of their choice, and Linda Johnson was critical in the organization's
development. "I would like to personally thank Linda Johnson for her
service to the PPA as its first Chairwoman, and in her continued service as
a board member as we take the organization to its next level," stated
Bolcerek.

The Poker Players Alliance http://www.pokerplayersalliance.org is a
non- profit organization advocating on behalf of American poker players.