Poker lobbying group the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), which last week held a charity poker tournament in Denver, Colorado, USA, in the midst of the Democratic National Convention, will hold a similar event on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, in the midst of the Republican National Convention.

As was last week’s event, this week’s tourney will raise funds for the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).

So far, however, this week’s PPA event doesn’t seem to be living up to the glitter of last week’s event.

As most Hollywood celebrities lean Democratic, there are fewer celebs in the Twin Cities this week for the GOP confab than were in Denver last week for the Dems, so this week’s charity tourney, so far, appears celebrity-challenged.

No major Hollywood names have been confirmed for Wednesday’s event, and the only famous names scheduled to participate are poker pros Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, who won the 2004 World Series of Poker, Barry Greenstein, Chris “Fox” Wallace and Victor Ramdin.

Participating in last week’s tournament in Denver were actors Ben Affleck, Richard Dreyfuss and Seth Myers, comic Sarah Silverman and poker pros Andy Bloch and Greenstein.

In addition, last week’s tournament was held at a Major League baseball stadium, Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies.

Apparently the folks running things in Minnesota aren’t as poker-friendly as their counterparts in Colorado–this week’s charity poker event won’t be held at the Metrodome, home of Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins.

In fact, this week’s tourney won’t even be held in the same city as the Republican convention–the tournament will take place in Minneapolis and the convention takes place in St. Paul.

In an effort to perhaps make up for its lack of star power, the buy-in for this week’s charity tourney will be $1,000.

The buy-in for the Denver tournament, which raised $65,000, was only $500.

For more information about the PPA or this week’s tourney, visit its website at www.pokerplayersalliance.org.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)