Stars Play Cards in Vegas
2-Jul-2008
Written by: C.J. Trent
Celebrities headed their way to Las Vegas to play poker for charity.
On Wednesday, 88 small screen and big screen stars gathered to play poker to earn money for Darfur charities, according to AP. The event, “Ante Up for Africa,” was started last year by actor Don Cheadle and poker player Annie Duke to raise awareness of the trouble in Darfur.
A part of Western Sudan, Darfur has been rocked by violence stemming from ethnic warfare. More than 300,000 have been killed and 2.5 million have been displaced, AP quotes the U.S. Presidential envoy to Sudan as saying.
Money from Wednesday will be donated to charity groups Enough, started last year by International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress, and Not On Our Watch, founded by Cheadle, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.
Last year’s “Ante Up for Africa” raised over $500,000, and this year’s pool totaled $418,000, according to AP. Players, including Bob Barker, Charles Barkley, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ray Romano and Adam Sandler, paid $5,000 to enter the competition and pledged to donate at least half of all earnings to the two charities.
http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/features/17763.html