[Texas72]

Hey everyone, as I'm sure you know, the South has been devastated by the recent hurricane Katrina. Many organizations are taking donations for the survivors, and Wil Wheaton and PokerStars have come up with a great way for people to help out.

On September 12th and 14th Stars is hosting tournaments where all of the buyin (minus 1 cent) will go to the Red Cross, and Stars will match all of the money raised. There will be prizes - Stars is offering some and then everyone who makes the final table will get an autographed copy of one of Wil's books.

Of course, it's not about the prizes - it's about donating to a great cause and getting to have some fun in the process. Even if you can't play in one of the tourneys, by all means sign up anyway so your donation can be counted and matched.

Full details are available here - http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2005/0...e-katrina.html


UPDATE - Just got an e-mail from Full Tilt that they are holding similar donation tourneys. Buy-in format is a little different, but FT is matching the funds.

From the e-mail -

Like everyone, we were saddened by the recent tragedy that struck residents of the Gulf Coast. That's why we're asking you to join us for a special charity tournament at 9:15PM ET on Friday, September 2nd to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Registration for this tournament is $20 + a $10 donation to the American Red Cross’ Hurricane 2005 Relief fund, which will be matched 100% by Full Tilt Poker. That means, for every Tilter who enters, we’ll send $20 to aid the victims of this devastating storm.

ANOTHER UPDATE -
Absolute is also offering charity tournaments -

In the wake of the devastation that has ripped through the Gulf Coast region as a result of Hurricane Katrina, online poker room Absolute Poker is launching an online tournament benefiting the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief effort. Absolute Poker is offering a range of charity tournaments, with tables starting at $1, and going all the way up to $100. For all money gathered in the charity tournaments, Absolute Poker will match the buy-in with a donation of the same amount. These are not real-money tournaments, as money collected will not be awarded in prizes, but rather, will be donated to help the areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. Alternatively, players who want to donate money, but who prefer to skip out on the tournament, can donate money directly through the Absolute Poker cashier.


Also, Stars is now offering a 20% reload bonus, up to $120, in conjuction with the tournaments.

[Lytspeed]

I know this post is old, but it caught my eye.

Right after Katrina, I had mentioned in the comments on Wil Wheaton's site that he should get PokerStars to host a Katrina charity tournament. As far as I know, I was the first to mention it publicly on his site, but he was probably already thinking about doing it anyway.

Here's a link, if you're interested. Link to Wil's blog

All told, PokerStars hosted four tourneys, and brought in over $127,000 in donations to Katrina relief. In the final tourney, Wil placed third. Not too shabby, really. He's a good player, and an even better person for putting that tournament in motion.

[ktb1017]

Being from New Orleans, I would encourage everyone to play in the tourny's. Any way that people help is greatly appreciated.

[channing73ny]

im interested in helping too