Fund Raising Activities of WPT

A lot of big names take part in the initiative A novelty at Bwin.party digital's World Poker Tour subsidiary involves the initiation of a charity initiative whose goal is to raise funds for good causes in the world by in-spanning A-list celebrities and top poker professionals in a series of high profile sponsored events. The initial donation made by the company itself is $100 000. According to the WPT Foundation's site, the poker company's platform will be used to "influence positive change in the world" by holding a number of charity poker tournaments under the umbrella title WPT Playing for a Better World. WPT Foundation's global charity partners for which the events will raise money include Conservation International, Enough Project, We Advance and World Central Kitchen. The first in the line of events will be held at the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills on March 11, 2012. It will be a poker training session run by professional players and accompanied by a round-robin style poker event, a raffle and an auction. Some of the celebs that will take part in the charity initiative include Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Eva Longoria, Maria Bello, Gerard Butler, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Joel Madden, and many others. As for the poker pros, there will be Daniel Negreanu, Dan Harrington, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Selbst, Tony G, Jamie Gold, Maria Ho, Andy Frankenberger, Mike Sexton and Tony Dunst. According to WPT CEO Steve Heller, “World Poker Tour has always been dedicated to supporting charitable causes, but by establishing WPT Foundation we are making a deep, lasting commitment to philanthropy the likes of which the poker world has not seen before. “With poker as a platform for an ongoing program and the support of celebrities, our poker player family and fantastic global charities, we're confident the world will be shown how WPT and the poker community can be an engine for important change in the world, and we're pleased to fuel that engine with an initial $100,000 donation."