Charity tournament attracts big stars, lots of money for cause

The Third Annual ‘Ante up for Africa’ tournament was held in Las Vegas amid the 2009 World Series of Poker last week. The tournament was the brainchild of poker pro Annie Duke and actor Don Cheadle, with the proceeds, normally donated by players, going to help people in Darfur.

On a good note this year was the amount of entries compared to last year. There were a total of 138 players who ‘anted up’ the $5,000 to play in the No Limit Hold’em game this year. With a price pool of over $670Million, the first place winner would receive $177,730.

Alex Bolotin was the lucky player to win this years Ante up for Africa event. Bolotin donated half of his winnings to the ENOUGH Project and International Rescue Committee, the charity that has benefited from this poker event. Other celebrites and poker players raised $362,000 for the Crisis in Darfur. Of the 18 players who finished in the money, 17 of them donated at least a portion of their winnings back to the cause.

The tournament lasted 10 hours this year and was held in the Rio Pavilion’s Amazon room with hundreds of spectators trying to get a glimpse of all the celebrities in attendance.

News Added: 06 July, 2009

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