Poker Players Help Raise $700,000 For Children’s Hospital

Some of poker’s top players have helped raise millions of dollars for worldwide charities over the years, including such worthy causes as Ante Up For Africa, or the ONE DROP Foundation. Some of poker’s more benevolent pros also like to support charities close to their own hearts, such as Jennifer Harman founding the Creating Organ Donation Awareness (CODA) non-profit organization, or last week Phil Hellmuth helping to raise money for The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
On Friday, November 6th, the charitable poker event took place at New York City’s Mandarin Oriental, with 275 people subsequently taking part in the WPT Foundation’s “All In” for Kids Poker Tournament. In addition to contributions from co-founder Dan Shak, 14-times WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, WPT anchor Lynn Gilmartin, and the Gitlin Family Foundation, a number of pros also rallied to the children’s cause. These included such notable pros as Andy Frankenberger, Scott Baumstein, Brian Hastings, Angel Guillen, Annie Duke, and Jamie Kerstetter.
Despite making an impressive deep run in the tournament, Annie Duke (4th), Hellmuth (3rd), and Shak (2nd) were ultimately eliminated from the tournament, with the eventual champion crowned none other than Antonio Rodriguez, co-founder of Cibeles Capital Advisors. Nevertheless, the real winner was the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, which received $700,000 in charitable funds on the night, and more than $2.3 million over the past three years. As WPT President Adam Pilska commented at the end of the gala evening:
“CHOP remains the preeminent pediatric hospital in the world, nurturing many of the nation’s pioneers and innovators in pediatric medicine, and WPT Foundation is honored to support such a devoted group of doctors, nurses and researchers that are fully dedicated to finding cures and treating illnesses and injuries specific to children.”