PPA poker for charity

Poker Players Alliance organizes charity tournament to raise cash and awareness of refugee crises in Sudan. A host of big names anticipated at the event in Washington DC

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has turned its attentions to the continuous plight of refugees and has organized an 'Ante up for Africa' charity poker tournament to be held in Washington DC on 14th April 2010.

The Hyatt Regency Hotel will play host to the event which will being together a raft of celebrities and top poker players, all with the aim of raising both cash and awareness for Africans in need. Each player will buy-into the tournament for $500, which will go towards charitable causes in Africa, such as the humanitarian crises in Darfur, Sudan.

The co-founders of the Poker Players Alliance, Don Cheadle, Annie Duke and Norman Epstein will be all be in attendance at the ‘Ante Up for Africa’ event, as will other luminaries including online gambling advocates and Capitol Hill politicians, Robert Menendez, Donald Payne and Jim McDermott.

Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International expressed his gratitude for the continuous support the PPA has provided to charitable causes over the years in a statement which read:

“We are grateful to Ante Up For Africa for shining a spotlight on the ongoing crisis in Darfur and generating such significant support for the people who have been forced from their homes by this conflict. An event like this makes it possible for Refugees International to continue to demand action from the world’s leaders to provide basic assistance and protection to refugees in Sudan and around the world.”

A host of Full Tilt Poker pros including Andy Bloch, Howard ‘The Professor’ Lederer, Greg Raymer and poker author Jim McManus will also take to the felts in this star-studded event, which will see the eventual winner awarded a $10,000 seat at this summer's World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. There is a host of other prizes up for grabs, including a two day WSOP Academy training course. The action is set to begin at 6.30pm local time on 14th April.

Ken Bacon continued, “We have been privileged to work with Annie Duke and her friends and to witness the incredible generosity of the professional poker community. We can’t thank Annie enough for her commitment to refugees around the world and for her work for peace and justice.”

The Poker Players Alliance is an American non-profit interest group formed to serve as an advocacy group to Washington to establish rights and protections to for US poker players.