Helping Hands Charity Tournament Latest in PokerStars' Long History of Charitable Endeavors
Poker and charity go hand in hand. In fact, the Global Poker Index (GPI) has even dedicated a category, Charitable Initiative of the Year, in the 14th Annual European Poker Awards, which will take place at the Hilton Hotel here in Malta on March 25. Among the four nominees in the category is Helping Hands Charity Tournament, an event that raises funds for PokerStars' charity partner, Right To Play.
According to their mission statement, Right To Play is a global charity using sport and play to educate and empower children and young people to overcome the effects of poverty, conflict and disease in disadvantaged communities around the world.
On Saturday, March 21 during the EPT Malta, Helping the Hands Charity Tournament will take place at the Portomaso Casino, which is connected to the Hilton Malta. The event will kick off at 7:30 p.m. with drinks and canapé reception, which will also offer newbies free training lessons. Then, beginning at 8:30 p.m., the €100 buy-in, invite-only tournament will begin.
"The tournament and refreshments will be on the second floor of the Hilton congress hall in the magnificent 'Grand masters suite,'" said Anna Colley of Rational Group. "If you should wish you can also participate in some poker training, we will have tables allocated for this before the tournament starts."
She went on to add: "It will be a fantastic night, with plenty of opportunity to chat and play against our Team Pros, as well as staff and well-connected figures from the local business community. There will be some great prizes to be won too."
All proceeds from the event, which will have several Team PokerStars Pros in attendance, will go toward PokerStars' goal of training 1,000 Right To Play coaches, which will bolster the 2,500 volunteer coaches who are currently changing the lives of 185,000 children all over the world. To date, through there charitable endeavors, PokerStars has raised ￡354,201 of their ￡420,000 goal, meaning they're 84% of the way there. The event in Malta will no doubt bring them much closer to their target.
The Helping Hands Charity Tournament is the latest in a long line of charity work involving Rational Group. Here's a sample of Rational Group's charitable activities over the last decade:
- 2004—PokerStars players raise $187,768 for tsunami relief, but the company rounded it up to $400,000 to benefit the International Federation of the Red Cross.
- 2005—PokerStars online tournaments helped raise more than $100,000 for the American Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina.
- 2007—PokerStars teams with Ocean's Thirteen to donate $1 million to Not On Our Watch charity, which helped those in Darfur.
- 2007-2008—Life Ball, which was sponsored by PokerStars, received $100,000 and $150,000 in 2007 and 2008 respectively thanks to PokerStars players.
- 2008—PokerStars players raise HKD$2,226,146 (~$285,000 USD) for the Red Cross after devastating Chinese earthquake. PokerStars also ran the Million Dollar Men series, which raised more than $100,000 for charities endorsed by the six PokerStars players who made the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.
- 2009—Ante Up for Africa, which raised money for war-torn Darfur, took place during the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final.
- 2010—Celebrities such as Boris Becker, Nelly, and Kelly Rowland attended a charity event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure that raised nearly $100,000 for AIDS research via amfAR.
- 2013—PokerStars raises money for Cancer Research UK while also paying for female players in the UK to enter Race for Life events. Meanwhile, Rational Group players and staff donated more than $260,000 for CARE International after Hurricane Haiyan hit the Philippines. Rational Group doubled that.
- 2014—Rational Group funded the development of Play to Cure: Genes in Space mobile game, a game by Cancer Research UK that analyzes genetic data while you play.
For those hoping to participate in the Helping Hands Charity Tournament should RSVP to: Anna Colley – [email protected]. Remember, space is limited.
To give you an idea of what the night will hold, check out this video featuring a similar charity initiative for the Quintessentially Foundation that was held last year in London.