Poker is not only related to epic card tournaments, glamorous casino rooms and multi-million prizes. Sometimes, poker could turn out as a pretty fun way to make the world a better place, involving both poker players and members of the public in various charitable fund-raising initiatives and donations.
Actually, a great number of professional poker players are also known as philanthropists, taking part in various initiatives and events, but we will get to that later. Thanks to the increasing popularity of poker over the last decade, the overall perception of the game has been changing. So now, both poker players and organisations are known for donating millions to various causes worldwide on an annual basis.
Various charity tournaments have also been organised regularly in order to support certain groups of society or help the one in need. Here are some of the most substantial donations made in the poker history.
2004 PokerStars Tsunami Relief Effort
Over the years, PokerStars brand has become one of the largest contributors. The international poker brand helped the victims after the devastating 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which left 200,000 people dead or missing. In order to help the ones in need, PokerStars organised a special a Donations Tournament, which gathered $100 from each of the tournament’s entrants.
The recapitulation at the end of the tournament showed a total of $187,000 raised by the players. PokerStars alone added to the final sum, donating a total of $400,000 to the Red Cross.
2013 PokerStars Philippines Typhoon Appeal
PokerStars has always been a poker brand engaged with philanthropy and charitable activities. So, it was no surprise that in 2013 the brand joined the fund-raising initiative for Southeast Asia which was hit by the Typhoon Haiyan.
The sum raised by the players amounted to $260,000, and PokerStars boosted the final sum to the an international humanitarian agency CARE almost $580,000, making one of the largest donations in the history of poker.
2012 World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop
2012 was the first year of the collaboration between the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and One Drop. The latter’s major goal is to provide access to safe drinking water worldwide, and in fact, over its collaboration with the WSOP, the initiative managed to generate some of the most substantial donations ever made in the history of poker.
The partnership was celebrated with an enormous tournament featuring a buy-in of $1 million. The event gathered a player base of 48 entrants, and $111,111 from each buy-in was transferred to One Drop. At the end, the sum of the donation amounted to $5.3 million, making the largest single donation ever made by a poker event. One Drop also appointed the tournament’s winner Antonio Esfandiari as the charity ambassador.
2013 World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop
This was the second year when One Drop joined forces with the World Series of Poker (WSOP). This time, however, there was no $1,111,111 Buy-in One Drop Event. A $111,111 High Roller Tournament was featured in its place plus an event offering $1,111 buy-in.
A total of 166 players entered the High Roller Event, while the lower buy-in event managed to gather 4,756 entrants. As a result, the donation raised for the cause of One Drop, amounted to more than $1.7 million.
2014 World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop
In 2014, the Big One for One Drop tournament returned to see 42 people who registered for the event and paid the buy-in of more than $1 million. In addition to this event, a smaller tournament called the Little One for One Drop was organised, featuring a buy-in of $1,111, attracting almost 4,500 entrants.
The combined amount of the donation of both the Big One and the Little One tournaments amounted to $5.2 million.
- Author
Harry Evans
