PPA National Poker Week in July

The Poker Players Alliance is set to launch National Poker Week in its latest effort in the campaign to overturn anti-poker legislation in the United States.

The poker week will be held from July 19-25, the PPA announced.

According to the PPA, the week will rally the organization's huge membership across the country to send a message to lawmakers that their constituents support poker and need legislation to license the game for the more than 10 million Americans that play online.

"Our members - the poker players of America - are our best advocates to protect the future of poker," PPA chairman Alfonse D'Amato said.

"National Poker Week, with events in Washington, DC and across the country, is the PPA's way to make it clear to my former colleagues in the U.S. Congress that poker is important to voters and is here to stay," said D'Amato, who served as United States Senator for New York from 1981 to 1999.

A PPA delegation including state directors and poker professionals will travel to the capital during the week to lobby members of Congress and ask them to support pro-poker legislation.

There will also be organized telephone and email campaigns to Congressional offices so that poker players across the country can help the cause.

A petition is also being prepared at NationalPokerWeek.com, and will be delivered to President Barack Obama during National Poker Week.