WSOP gears up for the Ante Up For Africa Tournament
This year’s Ante Up For Africa Tournament is set to attract more celebrities than last year. This annual charity poker challenge was launched at the 2007 World Series Of Poker and drew an unprecedented cast of celebrities such as Ben Affleck, Shannon Elizabeth, Adam Sandler and Matt Damon, as well as poker pro’s Chris Ferguson, Jamie Gold, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer. But it was Dan Shakand and Brandon Moran who made it to the final table, where they announced that they would share the first prize. They then donated 100% of their prize money to the victims of the Darfur tragedy through the Enough Project and the International Rescue Committee charities.
Even though the two players shared first place, the real winners of this event were the victims of the unspeakable tragedy which is currently taking place in the Darfur region of western Sudan in Africa, who are overwhelmed by an ongoing humanitarian crisis. The total amount of money donated from these two champions alone amounted to almost $400,000, along with the tournament entry fee’s made up the donation of over $700,000.
This year’s event will take place on Wednesday, July 2nd at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, and as academy award nominee Don Cheadle and professional poker player Annie Duke start their campaigning, they are hoping that this year’s event will bring in close to $1 Million.
