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Stars Flock to Play Poker to Help Dafur FundRaisingSun, Jul 6th, 2008 @ 12:00am Celebrities and poker pros alike turned out this past Wednesday to donate to Darfur charities, and to show their fellow players who the real card sharks were. "I'm looking forward to whipping a lot of celebrity rear end," talk show host Montel Williams said before beginning play in a charity Texas Hold 'em tournament at the World Series of Poker. "I tweaked my game, and my game is really solid." Williams and 87 others, including such Hollywood heavy hitters as Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Alexander, George Lopez, Adam Sandler and Ray Romano, played in the no-limit tournament to raise money and have a good time. Charles Barkley also played after a recent pledge to take a hiatus from gambling. The 45-year-old former NBA star, who was sued in May by the Wynn casino for failing to pay back gambling loans, said he would donate his winnings to charity and didn't plan to spend a lot of extra time in town. The TNT commentator paid back his markers shortly after the casino filed a civil complaint. Barkley said he wasn't going to gamble for "the next year or two" on the air during the NBA playoffs.
Players donated prize money from the second annual "Ante Up for Africa" event to charities working in the Darfur region of Sudan. Cheadle and poker pro Annie Duke began the event last year to raise money and awareness for the region, where more than 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced since ethnic warfare began in 2003, according to the U.S. presidential envoy to Sudan. The tournament benefited two charities: ENOUGH, a project co-founded in 2007 by the International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress and Not On Our Watch, a group co-founded by Cheadle, Damon, George Clooney and Brad Pitt. "It's just great to see everybody," Cheadle said as the event began. "Don't expect to win, because it's mine." Cheadle was eliminated by Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell when his pair of jacks couldn't top Cantrell's queens. Players in the poker tournament paid $5,000 to enter, and were asked to donate at least half their winnings evenly to the two charities. Nevada law prohibits poker tournaments from designating a certain amount of prize money for charity so players signed voluntary contracts at the tables, pledging at least half their winnings. "Charity doesn't have to be boring, it doesn't have to be a burden," Duke said. "We want people to have a really good time." As play began, the prize pool totaled $418,000. Last year the event raised more than $500,000 for the charities and finished with the top two players pooling their $350,000 in winnings and donating it to the cause. Alexander won the first hand at his table with Damon, eight-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Erik Seidel and others when he raised before the flop and everyone else folded. "All the tournaments I've ever won have been for charity," Alexander said. "When there's no actual money for me, I'm very good." Based on Associated Press Article by Laura E. Davis Read Related Article:
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US Poker Championships Main Event Gets Down to Ten Day 2 of the United States Poker Championship's $10,000 Main Event began Monday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. EDT. By midnight, thirty players had reported to the rail, leaving just ten survivors.
Asia Pacific Poker Tour's Next Stop: Auckland New Zealand Oct 4-12 After its successful PokerStars.net APPT Seoul event, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) has just announced the schedule for its third stop of Season Two at SKYCITY Casino in Auckland. The PokerStars.net APPT SKYCITY Auckland Festival of Poker will run from October 4-12 with both a NZD$3,000 Main Event (October 9-12) expected to have the largest prize pool ever for a poker tournament in New Zealand, and a NZD$10,000 High Rollers Event (October 11).
Study Reveals The Professions That UK Poker Players Most Fear A new study of over 1,000 UK poker players has revealed the professions poker players most fear facing in a tournament: actors, stockbrokers, politicians, and accountants.
Disappointing Turnout for US Poker Championship Main Event Day 1 of the United States Poker Championship's $10,000 Main Event began Sunday afternoon. Although this event attracted 164 players last year, only 52 turned out to play this year, creating a prize pool of $504,400. The lack of television coverage since ESPN discontinued their contract is the most frequently cited issue, but recent developments in the financial markets and high gas prices may have also contributed to the low turnout.
Duplicate Poker Closes October 5th Duplicate Poker closed this past Sunday, which is strange, since only two weeks ago they announced that they were thriving and celebrating player number 250,000 (see below). Apparently their idea to offer poker fashioned after duplicate bridge, where tables competed over how the same hands were played out, didn't catch the fancy of enough of the poker playing masses to weather their current financial storm. But they do say when the climate changes, they may reopen.
Summit to Discuss Online Poker Domain Seizure Oct. 6th in Frankfort Kentucky Today, Oct. 6th, the Bluegrass Institute, which is an independent, non-partisan association of writers and speakers who analyze state and local public policy in Kentucky, has teamed up with the Poker Player's Alliance (PPA) and several other state and national groups to host an 'Emergency Summit' in Frankfort Kentucky to discuss the dangerous and far-reaching implications of Kentucky Governor Beshear's attempt to seize 141 online poker and online gaming domains.
Matt Brady Captures Aruba Poker Classic Title Saturday marked the close of the 2008 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic from the Radisson Casino and Hotel. Poker pro Matt Brady was able to outlast 550 other players, including Swedish pro Johan Storakers heads-up, on his way to a payday of $1 million.
Dramatic Comeback Earns Martin European Poker Tour London Win By Satuday, they were down to eight players in the 2008 European Poker Tour London Main Event. After one last day on the felt, American Michael Martin would put together one of the biggest comebacks in recent memory to capture the GBP 1 million first-place prize.
Dutch Professor Challenges Poker's Chance Classification with Formula This past Friday, Professor Ben van der Genugten, an expert in probability and mathematical statistics, challenged the Dutch Supreme Court's classification of poker as a game of chance, citing how a formula he co-developed and is used by the courts pegs poker at a higher skill level than most fantasy sports, which the court rules are a game of skill. Because of this inconsistency, the Professor is calling for the court to revoke the classification of poker as a game of chance.
Boss Media Launches Italian Poker Network, Skill Gaming Platform Taking advantage of online poker being allowed by Italy's gaming regulator, similar to Playtech's recent announcements, Boss Media announced the launch of an Italian poker network at the European iGaming congress and Expo in Barcelona. Boss, with sister company St Minver, will offer Italian players online poker through parent company GTech and GTech owners Lottomatica. |
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