- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
- Messages
- 63,474
im Tabilio, the political strategist behind the Poker Voters of America (PVA) lobby group which has shaped the state-by-state regulation drive in the US, has died.
Tabilio suffered a heart attack on Wednesday afternoon after leaving a California Senate Governmental Organization Committee hearing for Senator Rod Wright’s SB 45 bill. He was on his way to a dinner with tribal leaders to further discuss the issues around legalised internet poker in California. He was 59.
PVA president Melanie Brenner, who succeeded Tabilio in the role, said: “Jim Tabilio's work to legalise and regulate intrastate online poker changed the debate and his efforts will ultimately lead to an opening of the US market for internet gambling.
“I'm sorry I won't be drinking champagne with him in celebration but am forever grateful for the opportunities he created for so many of us."
Tabilio spent 25 years as an independent political consultant before joining San Francisco-based political messaging and direct mail firm Winning Directions on a full-time basis in late 2005. While working as a joke writer for Tonight Show host Jay Leno in the early 1990s, he also sold and optioned several TV and film scripts, including produced feature Sweet Justice.
SOURCE
Tabilio suffered a heart attack on Wednesday afternoon after leaving a California Senate Governmental Organization Committee hearing for Senator Rod Wright’s SB 45 bill. He was on his way to a dinner with tribal leaders to further discuss the issues around legalised internet poker in California. He was 59.
PVA president Melanie Brenner, who succeeded Tabilio in the role, said: “Jim Tabilio's work to legalise and regulate intrastate online poker changed the debate and his efforts will ultimately lead to an opening of the US market for internet gambling.
“I'm sorry I won't be drinking champagne with him in celebration but am forever grateful for the opportunities he created for so many of us."
Tabilio spent 25 years as an independent political consultant before joining San Francisco-based political messaging and direct mail firm Winning Directions on a full-time basis in late 2005. While working as a joke writer for Tonight Show host Jay Leno in the early 1990s, he also sold and optioned several TV and film scripts, including produced feature Sweet Justice.
SOURCE