Part-Time Poker Player Full-Time Charitable Celebrity
While the focus of many members of the poker community during the month of July is primarily on winning a World Series of Poker bracelet, that doesn’t stop the game’s brightest stars from taking a break from the bracelet hunt to help raise money for a worthy cause. This year’s edition of the Ante up for Africa charity tournament once again brought out the game’s biggest stars and Hollywood A-listers by the dozens. As one of the year’s most heavily promoted charity tournaments, it was no surprise that media members were out in force trying to get pictures and sound bytes from participants.
Fortunately for the paparazzi there were plenty of big-name celebrities and athletes in attendance, including Rounders star Matt Damon, Ben Affl eck, Cedric the Entertainer, Sarah Silverman, Brad Garret, Joe Reitman, Dean Cain, Montel Williams, Mike Tyson, Charles Barkley, Jennifer Tilly, Herschel Walker, Patrick Bruel, and Jason Alexander. In the end, it was Jason Alexander that lasted the longest for the jet-set crowd as he narrowly missed making the fi nal table.
In addition to celebrities, many of the game’s elite came out to support the cause with Team PokerStars and Team Full Tilt each having a number of players in the mix. Players from Team PokerStars seeing action were 2008 WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate, Joe Hachem, Barry Greenstein, Dennis Phillips, Chad Brown, Gavin Griffin, Ylon Schwartz, Victor Ramdin, and Humberto Brenes. Team Full Tilt was represented by players such as Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Eric Seidel, Phil Gordon, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Rafe Furst, and Jennifer Harman. Other pros seeing action on the day included Phil Hellmuth, David Bach, Justin Bonomo, Brandon Cantu, Chau Giang, Shaun Deeb, and event host Annie Duke.
Led by actor Don Cheadle and recent Celebrity Apprentice runner-up Duke, this year’s gathering once again raised money for the non-profit organization which raises funds and awareness for the survivors of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan. By day’s end, the 138 participating players raised $362,000 for the charity. In total, Ante Up For Africa has now raised over $2.5 million since the tournament’s inception in 2006.
Play moved quickly throughout the afternoon, setting the tempo for a tough fi nal table featuring a Full Tilt-dominated line-up that included WSOP bracelet winners Seidel, Harman, and Ferguson. But the rest of the table was nothing to sneeze at, including last year’s Ante Up For Africa champion Johnny “World” Hennigan, Gordon, Furst, Matthew Kay, Adam Richardson, and Alex Bolotin.
In the end, it was Bolotin who snagged the title of 2009 Ante Up For Africa champion and the $176,449 first-place prize. After defeating a tough field full of potential landmines, the New York pro graciously donated half of his winnings to the ENOUGH Project and the International Rescue Committee.
We here at BLUFF would like to congratulate all of those that participated for once again proving that poker players are some of the most giving people in the world.
Filmed by ESPN, the Ante Up for Africa tournament will air on August 11, 2009. For information on the charities please go to EnoughProject.org and TheIRC.org.
