Those with money being generous. It’s a really noble concept, which is often lost and/or forgotten in the real world which is full of tyranny, thieves, and people who really do not care about anything else in the world than themselves. Who but Robin Hood helps the real needy on a frequent basis? The answer to this question will soon be as unlikely as you could have ever imagined.
In the wake of the disastrous earthquake that hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in the beginning of the year, everyone made sure to contribute somehow to this godforsaken country. A great job was done, and tens of millions of dollars, Euros and pounds found their way as part of a massive, global relief effort equal in scale only to the earthquake that hit. Many poker sites organized charitable tourneys, and in effect some were not even tourneys, but only avenues to donate money using a trusted method.
But Haiti was not the only place in dire need of help. There are tons of other examples that need help around the world. One such example that is particularly well known amongst poker players has been Darfur with its endless ethnic conflict, claiming countless lives on a daily basis. In order to soothe things up, the poker community organized a series of charity tournaments that were dubbed “Ante Up for Africa” and headed by world renowned celebrity Don Cheadle and 2010 NBC HU winner Annie Duke. That series of tournaments proved to be very successful, and generated a lot of money to help send some humanitarian aid for the victims of the conflict in Darfur.
But more is always needed. And in a true spirit of chivalry and generosity for those in need that has not been shown by pretty much nobody in recent times, including the huge banks and corporations that generate billions of dollars in profit each and every year, several poker sites have ganged together to increase the charity tourney options that they currently offer. Spearheading the movement are UB, Absolute Poker and Full Tilt Poker, and we can expect more to follow soon.
UB and Absolute Poker, of course joined by the hip like Siamese twins due to the Cereus Network, are offering what is called “Second Sundays” which involve $10 tourneys on Sunday for the sole purpose of raising money for charity. Full Tilt Poker has joined forces with pokernations.com and pokergives.org — a charitable fundraising company in the poker industry headed by Mike Sexton, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher and Lisa Tenner — to host its own $10 tournament on the 4th of April at 2PM EST which will benefit a couple of charities as well. This will be a $5+$5 event, meaning there will be a prize pool to compete for anyway, and there will also be a ton of bonus prizes thrown in for good measure. Still, in the spirit of giving, you should be flipping every single hand in this tourney.
A large quantity of the Full Tilt Pro’s will be playing in this tourney as well, so if you ever wanted to sit side by side with a pro, this will be your chance!
Share and share alike people, and definitely do help the needy. We are all in this world together, so we should help each other every little bit that we can.