Ante Up for Africa

by Bodog Poker | Jul 2 2009

The World Series of Poker has been a platform for different charities over the years, and for the last three years the cause has been the plight of the survivors of Darfur. Ante Up For Africa (AUFA) is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 by Don Cheadle, Annie Duke, and Norman Epstein. All proceeds from the event go to the ENOUGH project and Refugees International, who raise awareness for the war-torn region. Duke helped raise additional awareness of the cause during her highly-rated appearance on the television show The Apprentice, where she raised over $730,000.

The event is always a star-studded affair, and this year's version has a ton of celebrities and sports figures confirmed to attend. Headlining the celebrity list will be Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. That list also includes Annie Duke, Don Cheadle, Brad Garrett, Cedric The Entertainer, Charles Barkley, Danny Masterson, Hank Azaria, Herschel Walker, Jason Alexander, Kenny Smith, Marlon Wayans, Montel Williams, Reggie Miller, Tia Carrere, Sarah Silverman, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Cheryl Hines, Mekhi Phifer, Rob Schneider, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Tiffany Michelle, Erik Seidel, and Phil Hellmuth.

At the conclusion of the first Ante Up for Africa event the final two players donated their winnings from the event to the cause. That has started a tradition that was continued last year when winner John Hennigan donated 100% of his $136,860 prize to the charity. The event has a $5K buy-in and is open to the general public. Amateur players get the chance to play against all these celebrities while helping a good cause. Ante Up for Africa is dedicated to raising money and awareness for Africans in need, and so far in three years the program has raised close to $2 million for the cause. This money has been donated to organizations such as Not On Our Watch (NOOW), ENOUGH, and The International Rescue Committee.

This year's event will be played on July 2 at the Rio. These tournaments have a very fast blind structure that increases the action and makes it fun for everyone playing. It will likely be all over in less than five hours. The event has become popular enough that prop bet action is being offered; Bodog is offering action on which celebrity will go the deepest in the tournament, with Don Cheadle getting the lowest odds at 7-1.

Organizers hope that this year's version of the charity event will be a bigger success than it was in 2008, when it had 88 entrants for a combined prize pool of $427,680. Last year's top finishers were:

1 John Hennigan $136,860 Las Vegas, Nevada
2 Michael Degusta $85,536 Santa Barbara, California
3 Dan Shak $54,529 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
4 Phil Hellmuth $38,491 Palo Alto, California
5 Matt Calhoun $31,006 Phoenix, Arizona
6 Jerry Cantrell $25,660 Encino, California
7 Jordanna Schutz $21,384 Boulder, Colorado
8 Ray Romano $18,176 Santa Monica, California
9 Casey Affleck $16,038 Santa Monica, California