In the build up to this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event, 83 poker playing stars took the time to compete in a $5,000 charity tournament, aimed at raising money for the Ante Up For Africa organisation.
Ante Up For Africa was founded by Annie Duke, Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein and seeks to raise money and awareness of the problems in Africa, particularly in the Darfur region of Sudan, the largest country in the continent.
Omar al-Bashir, the man responsible for running the country, has overseen the killing of more than 300,000 people, as well as driving over three million others into prison camps. Ante Up For Africa is working to provide humanitarian aid and to work towards solutions to the problems faced by the people of Sudan.
The tournament at this year’s World Series of Poker was the fourth of its type and is now a regular event on the calendar. Phil Gordon, poker professional and author of the “Little Green Book”, made the final table of last year’s Ante Up For Africa tournament but went a step better this time round, beating Shannon Elizabeth heads up.
“I know this isn’t a bracelet event, but it feels like one”, remarked Gordon after the tournament, which raised over $300,000 for the cause. A huge chunk of that came from Gordon himself, who donated every cent of his $130,641 first place prize money, as he did with the money he earned last year.
The No Limit Hold’em tournament drew a number of big name celebrities, including Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Also present were TV actor Brad Garrett, boxer Evander Holyfield and NFL star Jerome Bettis. Poker contributed a fair share of big names too, with Jen Harman, Greg Raymer, Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel all taking part.
Another charity benefiting from World Series of Poker exposure is The Bad Beat on Cancer Initiative, which is the brainchild of Rafe Furst and that man Phil Gordon. The idea behind the charity is to help fund cancer prevention research and it has raised over $3 million since its foundation in 2003.
Ultimate Bet professional player Adam Levy said, “Poker players lead very lucky lifestyles, so it is good to give back when you can”. All poker players at this year’s World Series of Poker wearing the green “1% Pledge” badge are donating 1% of their WSOP winnings to the charity.
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