There are a multitude of benefits to playing poker. Your confidence increases as you get better at the game and are able to be riskier with your style of gameplay. Your skill in the game, which can be transferable to other aspects of life, also increases and enables you to think logically and more strategically across the board. You can gain a social life by playing poker, or even gain a following if playing online and live-streaming the events. Poker could lead to a solid career that takes you to unimaginable heights. But as well as all of these benefits, poker can actually do something for the greater good. Philanthropic poker is increasing in popularity as people attempt to try to help others and show kindness and compassion. Charitable poker games have existed since the game itself, but recent years have seen the altruism really show through the card game.
NVRFLD Charity Poker
The NVRFLD initiative (Never Fold) is a campaign to bring both amateurs and celebrities together for poker tournaments to raise money for charity. A joint venture involving Latitude, the February tournament aims to help a number of causes through people playing a game they know and love. The latest series aimed to help charities ranging from MATTER, which aims to provide for those who need supplies to live a healthy life; Healing Haiti, which attempts to help Haiti following the 2010 earthquake and which still feels negative effects; and the Starkey Hearing Foundation, which aims to offer hearing aids and other audio devices for those with hearing difficulties. NVRFLD offers many opportunities for people to get involved with the charitable campaigns, from joining in with the poker games to sponsoring players or the tournament to being a donating spectator. The tournament allows people to indulge in playing poker for a good cause and money raised through those playing is donated to help the greater good.
Raising for Effective Giving
Raising for Effective Giving is another way in which poker can help be philanthropical. But, it works slightly differently to a traditional poker tournament. In Raising for Effective Giving, poker players who have signed up agree to donate a portion of their winnings to charity. The money bypasses middlemen and goes directly to causes that need it from the pocket of poker stars who win big at the tables. The charitable scheme was originated by 888poker ambassador and poker legend Martin Jacobson as a way to give back some of the masses of winnings he has won through his professional poker career thus far. Jacobson honed his skills by playing online poker games, starting with free tournaments, before moving on to low-stakes tables. He has now harnessed the skills he uses in order to raise money by playing poker online. Most players pledge to give 2% of their annual earnings, and the charity helps find the causes most in need. Raising for Effective Giving allows those who play poker to do something effortless to help a great deal of people out in real terms.
Charity Series of Poker
The Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) is similar to the World Series of Poker, which it is based upon. However, the difference is that the CSOP actively looks to promote and encourage donations and players for charity poker tournaments. Set up in 2014, the CSOP finds poker tournaments that want to give to worthwhile causes and aims to make them easier for people to find and join in with. The CSOP helps people who play poker on any level give back and use their gift and skill with cards in order to do good. Events are listed and players are catalogued so that those which might garner the most excitement and interest will find their intended audience. Players for the tournament include poker stars such as Loni Harwood, Matt Matusow, Gavin Smith, Jay Farber, and Matt Salsberg. However, the full roster of poker players spans the entire gambit of those famous for playing poker professionally to those more amateur players, to those who play it online, to those who are celebrities and play poker on the side.
One Drop Foundation
The One Drop Foundation focuses on enabling more people access to clean and safe drinking water. Through the use of various artforms and ways of expression, the charity develops campaigns and initiatives to outline how some people are without safe drinking water and what others can do to help this. The charity launched the Big Drop for One Drop tournament, which helped poker players give to the worthwhile cause. The One Drop tournament was held as part of the wider World Series of Poker beginning in 2011 in Las Vegas. The buy-in for the 2012 edition was $1million – with $111,111 going to the Foundation from each buy-in. The first prize totaled $18.3million, with a $5.33million donation to One Drop. The charitable events gained interest and casino players were encouraged to donate 1% of all their winnings to the charity in the All in for One Drop campaign. This was successful as, in 2013, 458 players gave $250,000 of their winnings during the World Series of Poker.
Nobody would have really expected that poker could be used to help others. Several poker events are attempting to shake this image and show that poker can indeed benefit the greater good. From the NVRFLD that benefits charities and causes across the world, to the Raising for Effective Giving set up by poker legend Martin Jacobson, which uses poker to help people, the Charity Series of Poker, and the One Drop Foundation which aims to make clean drinking water accessible to all. Using poker as a means to help others is not only a way to incentivize people to help much needed charitable causes, but also show people tangible benefits to themselves. In the world of philanthropic poker, there are no losers.
