The Giving Season: Charity at the Card Table
By Alex J. Coyne © 2018 Great Bridge Links
We’ve reached the holiday season, and it’s a great time of the year to think about all of the good stuff that’s happened to you during the year. It’s also a great time to pass some of the good you’ve received through charity – and there are some excellent bridge, poker and casino charity events to look at.
Small groups or clubs are able to devise and host their own event, or host an ACBL event and designate what charity the money can go to – pick a local food bank or hamper drive for example.
The American Contract Bridge Foundation represents everything bridge in North America. There are five trustees on the board, all respected ACBL members, and you can find a complete listing of charity events and contributions through the foundation at the link above.
In Canada, the CBF Charitable Foundation was created to administer funds raised in club charity games across the country. You can find more information here.
Many local bridge clubs will be running charity events over the season – and if you’ve missed it, why not call your local club and see how you can contribute? Click here for the bridge clubs listing on Great Bridge Links.
The Charity Series of Poker is the place to be for charity poker events, and they’re a non-profit organization in charge of organizing some of the largest charity poker tournaments in the world – and it’s already had several successful years running at the MGM Grand in Vegas.
The game is a mixture of celebrity stars and professional poker players, and you can find a list of their charity events here.
Before you play in a poker or casino charity you might want to practice online blackjack or poker at HEX Casino available in Dutch and 12 other languages.
The McKenna Claire Foundation was set up to provide funding to aid with research for pediatric brain cancer, and among many other charitable events, they hosta regular poker event for charity every year. You can find the list of events(including the regular poker tournament for the year) at their events page.
Raising for Effective Giving Charity
The Raising for Effective Giving Charity (or REG) is a charity mostly made up out of business owners and top poker players who want to make a difference – and if you’re a gambler looking for a cause, this is a great place to go, and you might even be able to use the platform to get in touch with other poker players for a casual game.
The Chance for Life Foundation started as a charity organization from a childhood cancer diagnosis that became a larger dream – and has moved on to help many others who currently find themselves in what’s a really scary situation for anyone.
The grand prize for the poker tournament is a $10, 000 seat at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) that can help you to further your poker career – or just have the coolest experience of your life.
The link is at the Chance for Life Foundation, which is not to be confused with the Chance for Life Online website –which is not the same charity.
TheWorld Poker Tour Foundation brings together many of the world’s foremost poker professionals (and many amateurs) to compete in some of the largest poker events for charity. Regular poker tour events are organized, some featuring celebrities, and you can find a list of their events here.
PokerStars
If you’ve played any form of online poker, it’s likely that you will have heard of PokerStars before – they’re one of the biggest online poker sites in existence. It’s good to see that they do just as much for charity in the meantime, and you can find a direct link to their charity events here.
Renal Support Network
Many specific charities will offer gambling events for their cause, and it would be literally impossible to list all of them in one place – so, of course, if you have a specific cause in mind remember to check; make the suggestion for a charity gambling benefit if their website doesn’t suggest it.
The Renal Support Network (RSN) offers regular poker charity events, and you can keep an eye on all of them at the link.
Autism Speaks: Celebrity Poker
Autism Speaks also offers regular celebrity poker events to raise awareness of the condition and fund very important research into its future – and you can find all the information available on the page.
Hosting Your Own Event
Want to host your about all charity gambling event? Keep in mind that even casual charity gambling events are subject to specific rules – so always check the rules, laws and gambling commission for your state or country.
If it’s a bridge event, contact your local bridge club or organization. For other gambling events, here are some links to help:
- The Gambling Commission(UK)
- Gambling Laws for Charitable Gambling (USA)
- Charitable Gambling(Canada)
Photo by Kat Yukawa on Unsplash