National Poker Week News

As most poker players know by now, this week is National Poker Week and it began Sunday and will end this Saturday. I want to say that all of us poker players, especially online players, need to thank and show our appreciation to the Poker Players Alliance and everyone else that have been in Washington DC this week lobbying for our rights to fund our games online.

A large group of Poker Player Alliance members attended numerous meetings with members of Congress and their staff,more than a 100 from what I can gather, and they plan to present a poker petition to President Barack Obama. Just yesterday that petition had over 350,000 signatures from folk all across America. Professional poker players Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch and Greg Raymer among others that are known online like TheEngineer2008 and more have been participating all week. We all owe them a big thanks for all their efforts and a special thanks to those that have been keeping us posted on twitter.

The week has even had shock jock Howard Stern join the Poker Players Alliance. PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato who appeared on Stern’s talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio on Monday to discuss National Poker Week stated that “I can’t think of a more fitting way to kick off National Poker Week than having my friend, Howard Stern, become a member of the PPA. I thank him for having me on his show this morning and for supporting the PPA’s efforts to protect the freedom of American citizens to play the great game of poker at the time and place of their choosing – a freedom Congress voted to take away.”

On Tuesday there was a Charity Tournament with the proceeds going to the USO (The USO is a private nonprofit organization that provides services to members of the US military) and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. On top of 30 wounded Military Veterans playing that were hosted by the PPA, were some of the big names in poker. There was Annie Duke, Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer, as well as Navy Veteran and talk show host Montell Williams just to name a few. The total sum of money raised and handed over to the USO was $35,000.00

On July 22 PPA Executive Director John Pappas was on CNBC’s news show Street Signs talking about National Poker Week and our rights to play poker online. I watched the news cast live and thought that Director Pappas made some good statements myself, and he corrected the show on the legalities of online poker. You can watch the news clip as well by clicking here.

The fight to get online poker exempted from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act(UIGEA) is far from being over folk, so please continue to write your Congress and make sure to join the PPA if you have not already done so. Do not be one to sit on your rear and not do a thing to protect your rights .

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