Thursday, August 20, 2009

Canned, and I don't like the taste

I was encouraged by Full Tilt Poker (with a free roll) to be directed to the Poker Players's Alliance web site to send a letter to my different congressmen about legalizing online poker. The PPA had a canned letter, but I took the time to modify it and add some of my own stuff. I wanted my congressman to get something different, so as to take it seriously (um, well one can dream). I also wanted to make sure they knew I was just some average Joe not a nut case or a goofball.

Here was the (most likely a canned) reply one of them sent back:

Thank you for contacting me regarding S.1597, the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Protection and Enforcement Act of 2009. I am glad to have the benefit of your views on this important issue.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced this legislation in the Senate on August 6, 2009 and it was referred to the Committee on Finance. This bill would modify federal internet gambling laws.

Be assured I will keep your views in mind as Congress considers this or any legislation affecting internet gambling. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can ever assist you.

With best wishes, I am
Sincerely Yours,
Roger F.Wicker
U.S. Senate


Translation:
Dear [insert name here]
Thank you for writing to me.
==>(This is called a buffer statement -- good start.)

[Reiterate here what dumb voter sent.]
==>(So far, it's standard fare.)

I am glad to have the benefit of your views on this important issue.
==>(He said it with a straight face? Hard to tell with e-mail -- probably chortling, but maybe only giggling.)

Be assured that I will keep your views in mind although, of course, they have absolutely zero possiblity of affecting how I vote on anything.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you intend to make campaign donations to help perpetuate the corrupt political system that is now in place I can ever assist you.

Your truly,
Blah blah

Actually, it was more than I expected. I at least received a reply which was mildly surprising. Also, it was tailored to the comments I made, so could have been worse.

A guy who blogs under the name Zaphod sent a letter to his congressman (not about poker), and received a reply about illegal immigration. Huh?

Did any of you send an e-mail to your congressmen? Did any of you receive a reply?

12 comments:

  1. Once. Yes. Look alike to yours.

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  2. MOJO, your action spurred me to go to the Poker Players Alliance, theppa.com, to get the forms. They have a single page which finds your 2 senators and 1 representative, based on your zip, and sends them the canned request to support poker.

    They also have a petition for President Obama, which over 300,000 people have signed and sent to him.

    I sent them all in. Took about 2 minutes. I am in my 60's and prefer online poker to live. In my 70's and beyond, I sure do not want to have to go to a casino.

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  3. DW is a veritable letter writing machine. I tend to be a cynic in such matters.

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  4. I'm a huge cynic too (which you could probably tell from the sarcasm), but I wanted to play in the free roll, what can I say?

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  5. I got one canned answer back so far. But I didn't care if I got any answer, canned or otherwise.

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  6. @crash: yeah, just fun to see what happens.

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  7. To be quite honest, the UIGEA probably did us a favor. I made quite good money for a couple of years online, but the games got tough even before UIGEA.
    Using various aids like Poker Tracker (I used it, but not during play), semi-bots, bots, in my opinion is cheating. A casual player didn't stand a chance.
    It would've been easy for the sites to ban ALL aids during play, but, hey, they didn't want to lose the multi-tabling computer geeks. And how many players are on the phone to each other during tournaments? Loads.

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  8. Ha! I'm sure your translation was totally accurate. I'm a cynic myself. :/

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  9. Oh, yes! I love your snide comments! I recently sent an email to my senator and they sent me a freakin' letter in response. I was like, "Is that a responsible way to spend tax payer's money? Couldn't you just email back? Uh, it is FREE, ya know?"

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  10. @Nikkie: you're back! I went to your web site last night to see if you were on vacation and perhaps I had missed the memo.

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  11. sent one to all 3 of mine in Arkansas and have not heard a word from any of them.

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  12. @anonymous: Please come back and post if you hear from any of them.

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