Star List Grows for WSOP ‘Ante Up For Africa’ Fundraiser
This year’s “Ante Up for Africa” charity event at the World Series of Poker promises to continue its tradition of being the largest single fundraising event in the poker world, drawing an A-list of attendees from several fields of entertainment. The 2009 Ante Up For Africa event will be held at 2pm on July 2nd at the Rio Convention Center, the day prior to the start of the WSOP Main Event itself.
This year’s Ante Up For Africa will again be hosted by Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle and veteran poker pro Annie Duke, with the funds from the $5,000 buy-in event again going to humanitarian relief efforts in Africa. This year’s recipients of the funds generated by the Ante Up for Africa event are the ENOUGH Project and Refugees International. As in previous years, the relief work has targeted the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, where six years of genocidal practices have claimed 400,000 victims and displaced three million more Sudanese from their homes.
The list of attendees for the event annually features many of poker’s and entertainment’s biggest names. Already confirmed for this year’s event are Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, 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 and Rob Schneider, plus poker players Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Tiffany Michelle, Erik Seidel and Phil Hellmuth. This list is expected to grow extensively over the next two weeks.
As with all WSOP events, attendance is free and viewing is open to the public. More information on Ante Up For Africa is available at anteupforafrica.org.
