Online Poker Opens Its Wallets On Haiti

Major online poker sites move quickly to raise disaster relief funds With traditional generosity, the online poker industry has been among the first to introduce disaster relief fund-raising schemes for the devastated country of Haiti following the horrendous earthquakes that have all but destroyed its infrastructure. In addition to an offer to match donations from Bodog franchiser Calvin Ayre's Foundation, three major networks - Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and Cake Poker - have already stepped up to the plate with schemes designed to partner with their players in raising funds. Given the size and player liquidity of the sites, the potential is considerable. Pokerstars is allowing players to donate privately through its “Transfer Funds” option by writing in 'Haiti Fund' or publicly through one of its special dummy (ie not actually running) tournaments. The fake tourneys have buy-ins of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $200,and $1,000, and can be found under the Tourney-Special tab. With typical generosity, PokerStars will match all donations, whatever the means of donation, sending the total to the Red Cross. Full Tilt Poker is also making dummy tourneys available under the site Tournamet tab for 6pm ET this coming Sunday. Players can register for $1, $2, $5, $10, and $26, with Full Tilt matching all donations. The giant site also gives players the option to donate privately by transferring funds to 'Aid for Haiti' on the site. The site will aditionally run a number of charitable tournaments wherein half of the prize pool goes to relief efforts. Cake Poker is matching its players' donations and has formed three dummy tournaments — at $5, $25, and $100. Those funds will be sent to the American Red Cross.