Board of Directors

Michael Bolcerek – President

Michael R. Bolcerek has over 20 years of management experience in the tech industry with both large companies and start-up firms. He has held top positions such as President, COO, and CFO for companies such as Oracle, NeXT Computer Inc., Nokia Display Products, MongoMusic, and Liquid Audio where he raised public and private capital, managed investor relations, assisted with mergers and acquisitions, supervised SEC reporting, and oversaw corporate operations. His most recent position was the founder and head executive of BionTTech, a homeland security start-up company. Mr. Bolcerek is a graduate of Brown University, with a BA in Economics.

Michael background in finance and economics was the catalyst for his appreciation of poker as a game of skill. He enjoys playing poker with his wife and has weekly games with friends. He is firmly committed to protecting the rights of poker players so they can continue to enjoy the game as they do today.

Greg Dinkin – Professional Poker Player & Published Author

Greg Dinkin has played poker for more than 15 years. He honed his skills during a college internship at the Mirage in Las Vegas, where he played poker whenever he wasn’t on the clock. Aside from his credentials as a skilled player, Greg is also a well-known author and columnist. He has written a number of books about poker and business, and his columns run regularly in Card Player magazine.

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson – Professional Poker Player

“The Poker Players Alliance’s mission to defend the integrity of poker makes the organization so critical in defeating attacks by Congress and others.”

With a background in game theory and a Ph.D. in computer science, Ferguson started his career in 1989 when he discovered the IRC Poker Network and, in the mid-1990’s, began to play text-only poker in this chat room styled site. Consistently listed as one of the top players on the IRC network, Ferguson soon started playing in small tournaments in Los Angeles. In 1996, Ferguson won a spot in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and in 2000, went on to win the main event.

Jan Fisher – Poker Entrepreneur

Jan started her poker career in 1977 when she moved from Seattle, Wash. to Las Vegas, Nev. to become a poker dealer. Having dealt in many of the card rooms in Vegas before, Fisher moved on to semi-professional playing and management. Currently, she serves as a partner of Card Player Cruises along with Linda Johnson and Mark Tenner. She also hosts and directs the semi-annual Oasis Open poker tournament, held at the Oasis Resort and Spa in Mesquite, Nev. She is a founder of the Tournament Directors Association and has served as the tournament director for the highly successful PartyPoker.com Million events.

Linda Johnson – Chairwoman of the Board

Referred to as the “first lady of poker, Linda Johnson taught herself to play the game at an early age. In 1980, after finishing 5th in the WSOP Ladies Seven-Card Stud Tournament, Linda quit her job to move to Las Vegas and become a professional poker player. In 1997, she became the second woman in history to win a World Series open event.

Aside from her many achievements as a poker player, Linda helped create and publish Card Player magazine, turning it from a 68-page, black and white newsprint publication into a 132-page, full color, glossy magazine. Linda was also instrumental in helping to establish many other influential poker projects including the World Poker Industry Conference, the World Poker Players Conference, the Tournament Directors Association, Card Player Cruises, and the World Poker Tour.

Howard Lederer – Professional Poker Player

“Poker is under attack by Congress, and I believe that all poker players should join the PPA and tell Capitol Hill that we do not want the Federal government to ban an American tradition that we love”

Discovering his passion for poker as a result of his love for chess, Howard Lederer became part of a circle of world-class games players who were the first to experiment with no-limit hold ’em when it was first introduced in New York City. In order to take his game to the next level, Lederer moved to Las Vegas in 1993. Once in Vegas, he began to work with his sister, Annie Duke, to help her develop her game. In 1994, Lederer and Duke made poker history as the first brother and sister duo to make the same final table at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Since then, Lederer has been a consistent and formidable player on the world poker circuit.

Greg “Fossilman” Raymer – Professional Poker Player

“All poker players should join the PPA and unite behind our common goal of protecting this game we love”

A patent attorney by trade, Raymer took his career in a decidedly different direction when he tried to use his knowledge and skills to make history at the poker table. Playing online for a number of years, Greg won a seat to the 2004 WSOP through an Internet poker site. Wearing his trademark lizard-eye hologram eyeglasses, he played aggressive poker for six days straight, besting the more than 2,500 entrants to win the main event at the WSOP.

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman

“The Poker Players Alliance has made great strides in establishing itself as a voice for poker players on Capitol Hill. I hope that by getting behind the PPA, I can share my passion with the poker community on how very important it is to join this organization.”

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman is one of the world’s leading experts on online gambling law. Having been a courtroom attorney, practicing criminal defense for over 20 years, her expertise lies in the area of complex legal analysis, issues of constitutional magnitude, police and judicial misconduct and contempt of court. She is widely published and has lectured all over California teaching other attorneys the fine points of complex litigation. In addition, Mrs. Shulman has testified before the North Dakota Senate regarding on-line gaming.