Online poker network CEREUS is using the final weekend before the Christmas holiday to raise money for the Ante Up for Africa charity, which generates funds and awareness for the ongoing crisis in Darfur. On Saturday night at 7:30pm Eastern Time, the Charity Xmas Bonanza benefiting Ante Up for Africa will kick off. Making up the prize pool will be over $2,500 in state of the art gadgets and other last-minute stocking stuffers.
Ultimate Bet tournament consultant and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke will compete in the event, which is also open to members of Absolute Poker. The two sites recently merged to form the CEREUS network, currently one of the largest in the world. In a press release distributed by Ultimate Bet this week, Duke commented, “There’s no better time than the holidays to do something good. Ultimate Bet is once again inviting players to make a big difference through a charity poker tournament that’s incredibly rewarding on so many levels and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Duke and actor Don Cheadle teamed up to be the faces behind the $5,000 buy-in Ante Up for Africa tournament held during the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP). John Hennigan emerged as the champion of that event, the final table of which also featured Dan Shak, Phil Hellmuth, Jerry Cantrell, Ray Romano, and Casey Affleck. It attracted 88 players and was partly emceed by Hellmuth. A throng of fans surrounded the tournament area adjacent to the Amazon Room, the site of the WSOP, each looking to follow their favorite poker star or celebrity. Others who took part included comedian Adam Sandler, former NBA star Charles Barkley, actress Shannon Elizabeth, “Rounders” star Matt Damon, “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander, “ER” personality Mekhi Phifer, and Ben Affleck. Hennigan donated his winnings to the charity.
The buy-in for the tournament on the CEREUS network is $2 and all proceeds go to the Ante Up for Africa charity. In order to create a prize pool for the event, the company is adding over $2,500 worth of merchandise, including an XBOX 360 Elite, a 32 GB iPod Touch, a Sony Handycam Camcorder; a Nintendo DS, a Sony 8-inch portable DVD player, a Bluetooth keyboard, an iOmega external hard drive, and an Aero bed tailgater chair. In addition, CEREUS is tossing in poker gear.
In October, Ultimate Bet hosted a charity poker tournament benefiting Ante Up for Africa during its annual Aruba Poker Classic. The $200 rebuy tournament featured Cheadle, as Duke was away filming the second season of NBC’s reality show, “Celebrity Apprentice.” Two months prior, Ultimate Bet ran a series of six online charity tournaments that featured its biggest names, including Cheadle, Hellmuth, Duke, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, Gary “Debo34” DeBernardi, Shawn “westtexasman” Rice, Tiffany Michelle, Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, and James “P0KERPR033” Campbell.
A tournament held in May at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in California raised over $500,000 for Ante Up for Africa. The 2008 WSOP charity tournament generated a similar amount of money. Ante Up for Africa notes that 400,000 people are dead as a result of the Darfur crisis in the Sudan and another four million are “displaced.” The organization was founded in 2006 by Cheadle, Duke, and Norman Epstein. In this year’s World Series of Poker Europe, which was held in London, a small Ante Up for Africa tournament took place. Visit Ultimate Bet for more details on the Charity Xmas Bonanza on Saturday night, December 20th, at 7:30pm ET.