I can think of a few good reasons to play in PokerStars PPA Freerolls over the next couple of days. There's the $5,000 prizepool of course, with the chance to win $1,000. Then there's the bragging rights if you win a seat in Sunday's 1-table match with world champion Greg Raymer. But I still think the best reason to register for these freerolls is to support the important work of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). The PPA supports the freedom of all US citizens to play poker.

Team PokerStar's Greg Raymer had this to say about the organisation, "The PPA is dedicated to preserving the game of poker (online and live), its integrity, as well as the rights of American poker players. I myself am a member, along with thousands of other poker professionals and enthusiasts. In fact, I think it is so important, that I also volunteer as a Director on the Board. Registration is free and instant when you play in one of the $5,000 PPA freerolls."

I asked Greg what he thought of PokerStars.net freerolls, and he said, "I still love playing poker, and I play to win whether it's a tournament with millions of dollars at stake, or a play money game. Plus, who doesn't love a freeroll? A chance to win something for nothing."


Greg 'Fossilman' Raymer
He explained his views on 'fun money' games, "Well, you need to learn the basics before you can hope to move to the real moneygames and become a winner. And why not learn the basics for free, in play money games and freerolls?"

Greg told me about the challenges he faced when he first played. "I started out 15 years ago. At that time, the smallest games I could find,other than super cheap home games, was 3-6 limit poker, mostly Hold'em and Omaha hi-lo. Even though 3-6 sounds cheap, you can easily win, or lose, a couple of hundred dollars in an evening. And that's a lot of money for most of us. I wish PokerStars had been around back then, so I could have learned on play money tables, then moved up to penny games, nickel games, etc. I suggest to everybody that they start small, and only move up when they can beat the game they are in, and win the necessary money in the smaller game."

I speculated that this PPA freeroll would be very different from Greg's usual games, but he made it clear poker was his passion, whatever the stakes. He said, "I still love to play poker. I do play for high enough stakes that it is hard to have fun when I suffer a losing session. But, overall, I still love what I do. And the most fun is either when I win a big tournament, or when I am playing for very small stakes with a group of good friends, and we just enjoy one another's company."

Perhaps you too can enjoy Greg's company and play cards with the Fossilman this Sunday afternoon? Greg Raymer's love of the game is very clear and his message to US PokerStars players heartfelt, "Take part in the freerolls and support the PPA - poker is worth it!"

PPA freerolls run 3 times a day on Wednesday 11th, Thursday 12th and Friday 13th at 20:05, 21:55, 23:05 ET. To read more details about the PPA and these tournaments click here.

PPA supporters may also be interested in a live webcast by PPA chairman, former U.S. Senator, Alfonse D'Amato. He will discuss the PPA's work on April 12th at 3pm EST, details here.

The PPA membership currently stands at 320,000 members - they're aiming for a cool 1 million. Please show your support and help them to reach this target. Who knows, playing Greg Raymer and winning $1,000 might even be a happy bonus.