Kudos to Mason Malmuth

As many of y'all know, Mason Malmuth and I aren't exactly good friends. We had a serious rift about a disagreement about the similarity between two-stepping and swing dancing and our relationship just hasn't been the same since.

But recently Mason actually reached into his pocket to try to look behind the scenes of the Poker Player Alliance. It looks murky.

I've had my doubts about the group ever since they showed up with their hand out right after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was passed.

What struck me at the time was that the UIGEA really had nothing to say about poker, and the PPA said their objective was to keep poker legal. But the question of whether poker is legal is a state-by-state issue, not a federal issue, and their fundraising was piggy-backing on objections to a a federal law. They didn't really have any clear lobbying plans, but what plans they did have appeared to be on a federal level. That's pointless if the goal is what they said, to keep poker legal.

Mason's attorney investigated them and all my suspicisons were verified. PPA is either a scam or just a bunch of incompetent boobs, it's one or the other.

Whichever it is, don't give them any money. And if anybody vouches for them you need to just right there name down and remember them. I wonder if any of those who where singing the praises of a Costo Rican real estate developer who turned out to be a fraud are associated with the PPA.

Always check your pockets after shaking hands with people in the poker business.