Poker Stars to Host EPT Ante Up for Africa Event

Sunday April 19, 2009

In the past two years, the poker players and celebrities have come together to raise nearly $2 million for the humanitarian efforts in Darfur in their Ante Up For Africa tournaments. Today, Poker Stars announced that it would contribute to the cause by hosting the first-ever Ante Up For Africa Europe Celebrity Poker Tournament on April 27, the day before the Poker Stars European Poker Tour Season Five Grand Final main event.

All of the prize money from the no-limit hold'em tournament will be donated to help survivors in the region and to support activism in an effort to resolve the conflict. The tournament will kick off at 6 p.m. on April 27 in Monte Carlo. Team Poker Stars pros Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, and Vanessa Rousso all have committed to attending the €4,000 buy-in event.

Poker Stars will award the winner of the event a prize package for its 2010 Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure event in the Bahamas.

Ante Up for Africa has been featured at the World Series of Poker for the past two years. In the inaugural event in 2007, Dan Shak and Brandon Moran made a deal at the final table to award both the first- and second-place winnings of the tournament to the charity. Last year, John Hennigan took down the event and made a similar charitable gesture — giving his entire $169,000 in winnings to Ante Up for Africa.

Past Ante Up For Africa tournaments have attracted a number of celebrities, including Ben Affleck, Adam Sandler, Matt Damon, Ray Romano, Shannon Elizabeth, and Don Cheadle.