The World Poker Tour (WPT) announced today that it helped raised more than three-quarters of a million dollars for the Cardiac Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) via the “All In” for Kids Poker Tournament held about two weeks ago.
The event, which took place on October 27th at the Mandarin Oriental New York was billed as the largest-ever charity poker tournament to benefit a “major U.S. children’s hospital” (however specific that record may be).
“We are proud to once again partner with the WPT Foundation on this important and exciting event,” said Madeline Bell, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in a press release. “We are especially grateful to our friends at The Kibel Foundation for their support, and to the physicians and staff in CHOP’s Cardiac Center, who have revolutionized the way children with heart conditions are cared for both in our local communities and around the world.”
There is not much public information out there about the Kibel Foundation, but it appears to be a charitable arm of the Kibel Company, a builder, owner, and operator of apartment buildings in New York City.
The “All In” for Kids Poker Tournament was founded in 2008 by Dan and Beth Shak. It was emceed this year by Phil Hellmuth and attended by the likes of Vanessa Selbst, Victor Ramdin, Jonathan Little, and Andy Frankenberger.
As mentioned the tournament, which raised $765,000, specifically benefited the Cardiac Center at CHOP. It specializes in treating children with congenital and acquired heart conditions and handles “more than 30,000 outpatient visits and 1,800 inpatient admissions annually.”
The proceeds of this tournament have gone to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia every year, but the benefiting center has been rotated. In addition to the Cardiac Center, money has gone to the Center for Childhood Cancer Research, the Division of Neurosurgery, the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, the Center for Autism Research and Care, the Palliative Care Program, and Food Allergy Research.
Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour, spoke to the importance of events like this:
All children deserve a future as free from the roadblocks to their dreams as possible, and the importance of helping those in need to have the resources to battle the health challenges they face cannot be emphasized enough. WPT Foundation is honored to support Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as it continues to provide life-changing healthcare to children through more than 150 years of extraordinary service. Together over the past four years we have raised more than $3 million.
