FairPlayUSA logo
FairPlayUSA is a fairly new advocate of regulated online gaming. While not as established as the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), it is still helping to raise awareness of the issue and working toward the goal of legal online poker.
The group was created in 2011 as a grassroots campaign to help promote a safe, regulated online gaming industry that is run by legal and accountable operators. They advocate strict licensing regulations at the state/tribe level, crackdowns on foreign/illegal gambling operations and ensuring that players’ funds be kept accessible in escrow accounts.
There are five people on FairPlayUSA’s board of advisers, including lawyer Parry Aftab, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, poker pro and Main Event champion Greg Raymer, poker ambassador Mike Sexton and Tom Ridge who is a Vietnam War veteran, former Govenor of Pennsylvania (1995-2001) and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland security. These advisers of various backgrounds help in educating the public regarding the importance of legalized and regulated online poker.
While FairPlayUSA may seem very much like the PPA, there are some critical differences. Greg Raymer (who sits on the board of both organizations) laid out the differences as: the PPA’s funding comes from their members and that their goal is ultimately to lobby the federal government for the regulation of online poker. In contrast, FairPlayUSA is privately funded by brick and mortar casinos (Caesars and MGM Mirage) and aims at convincing the general public that legalizing and regulating online poker is the best solution for the industry.
Both the PPA and FairPlayUSA see the core of the issues as a matter of freedoms and of being able to play online poker safely and legally. They share many of the same legislation goals: that the games be fair, run by licensed operators, that player funds be segregated and accessible, that underage players are not able to access the game and that safeguards be in place to identify and offer assistance to problem gamblers.