Browse > Home / Posts by Cristina Lakey

WSOP Winner Donates 400k Win to Charity

June 22, 2008

Erik Brooks, Winner of the 2008 WSOP Seven Card Stud event, donated his entire $415,856 winnings to the Decision Education Foundation. Brooks had decided before the tournament to donate his winnings to the foundation. The foundation trains educators to teach students how to make intelligent life choices, along with developing classroom materials and working with youth groups.

Brooks has served on the nonprofit foundation’s board of directors since 2004.

“While it may sound fantastic to some,” Brooks explains “I believe in my lifetime children will move from math class to history to decision-making class as part of the normal curriculum in schools around the country.”

Brooks utilizes the same strategies that the foundation hopes to instill in school children, at the poker table.

“Virtually every decision I made was applying the same type of decision-making skills … you are essentially building a decision tree on the potential outcomes each time you decide whether to proceed with a hand,” he said.

Brooks, co-founder of the global financial firm Susquehanna International Group, stated the employees at his firm all take decision making courses that incorporate poker to give them “a common language.” He also adds that his personal poker philosophy underlines a key lesson for students, especially teenagers.

    Score a Royal Flush with your pocket cards on any real-money Texas Holdem ring game at CarbonPoker.com and you will receive a bonus of 100 x the big blind!

    Written by Cristina Lakey · Filed Under Online Gambling News 

    Poker Politics - Poker Players Unite This Election Year

    June 21, 2008

    Poker players have become the newest lobby group to target Washington, D.C. With poker, both land-based and online, in a partial legal state in the United States, the Poker Players Alliance is circulating an online campaign headlined by a website with the election themed name Poker 2008.

    The website features a video with professional poker players such as Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman and Chris Ferguson urging poker players to vote. The video starts with the message “The PPA recognizes political power comes in voters.”

    Although there is no federal law prohibiting online poker, some states do have laws making online gambling a criminal act. The PPA states increasing crackdowns from Washington and those states for poker and online gambling, including the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, prompting the need for a united political front.

    According to the website, The PPA’s mission is “to establish favorable laws that provide poker players with a secure, safe and regulated place to play. Through education and awareness the PPA will keep this game of skill, one of America’s oldest recreational activities, free from egregious government intervention and misguided laws.”

    With the November 4th Presidential election date fast approaching, the efforts of both the pro- and anti-gambling campaigns will intensify.

      Written by Cristina Lakey · Filed Under Online Gambling News 

      Charles Barkley Scheduled to Play Charity Poker Tournament

      June 20, 2008

      Just a month ago Charles Barkley vowed not to gamble again, yet he is again headed to the poker tables. Barkley, a former NBA league MVP, Had Pledged not to gamble for the next couple of years, after being sued for not repaying $400,000 in gambling markers to Wynn Las Vegas casino.

      Pokerstars Banner

      Jason Kidd, point guard for the Dallas Mavericks, told reporters that Barkley is keeping to his word. “We were at a casino and he said he was on the wagon” Kidd said “He’s strong. He didn’t gamble.” This time however it is for charity.

      On July 2nd, during the 2008 World Series of Poker, Charles Barkley will be joining other celebrities in the “Ante Up for Africa” event.

      The event will raise money and awareness for the Darfur region of Sudan. Since the beginning of ethnic warfare in 2003 more than 2.5 million people have been displaced and 300,000 people have died.

      The buy-in for this tournament $5000 and players donate at least half their winnings to one of the two designated charities.

      Last year the tournament raised more than $500,000. The top two winners agreed to pool their $350,000 winnings and donate it to the cause. Barkley has promised to donate all his winnings this year.

      Online Poker Players Opinions:

      1. Is it really gambling if you don’t win? Or is it at this point just a donation to charity?
      2. Should the organization allow Barkley to play after having just made such a public declaration?

        Written by Cristina Lakey · Filed Under Celebrity Poker Gossip, Full Tilt Poker, High Stakes Poker, Online Gambling News, Poker News, Poker on TV, PokerStars 

        Close
        E-mail It
        Socialized through Gregarious 42