There is jubilation at the Washington DC headquarters of the Poker Players Alliance because its membership has crossed the 1 million mark.

But it is also time to take stock of its achievements and make plans for the future.

The Poker Players Alliance was founded in 2005 as a nonprofit organization of poker players and poker lovers from the United States of America. The mission of this alliance is to present the views of poker players with one voice and to present a united front while campaigning for the protection of the rights of poker players. The need for such an organization arose because of the widespread feeling that the federal and state governments were enacting laws that were curtailing the freedom to play poker.

The Poker Players Alliance put things in perspective when it said “The government is threatening to take away our right to play poker online, at home, in bars or taverns, and even at charity events across the country.” The Poker Player Alliance works mainly through advocacy work in Washington trying to give inputs to legislators before laws are framed. When required it also fights prohibitory legislation. However in order to be successful it needs to display membership strength and that is why this landmark of a million members was crucial. Now the Poker Players Alliance is on par with the politically powerful advocacy groups such as AARP and the National Association of Realtors.

At this juncture the Poker Players Alliance has come up with two initiatives. One is a voter registration program and the other is a political action committee. The voter registration program is appropriately named “If You Play, Have a Say”. In a statement issued by Alfonse D'Amato, Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance and former senator, the objective of this drive is to create a vote bank that will hold the key to the 2008 Presidential elections.

The electorate stands finely divided as recent elections have shown and in such a case a vote bank of poker player can be instrumental in swinging the election in favor of the candidate who promises to free poker players from legal strangleholds. The mission is to register at least 100,000 voters before the November elections. The drive will have a strong presence in all poker locations soliciting poker players who are not yet members. The World Series of Poker beginning on the 30^th of May in Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas will be a major target.

The political action committee is called PokerPAC. Membership of the PokerPAC is open to dues-paying members of the Poker Players Alliance as well as to its board members and employees. D’Amato himself will head the PokerPAC because of his wide experience in this field.

The great news is that poker pro Annie Duke will serve as an honorary member of the board of PokerPAC. Annie Duke is a winner of a WSOP bracelet, but her strength of purpose is seen in her resolve not to compete in women only tournaments because she feels that poker is one of the few sports where women and men compete on equal footing.