Johnny 'World' Hennigan Wins 'Ante Up For Africa' Fundraiser
The final standings for the "Ante Up for Africa" poker fundraiser, held on July 2nd as part of the WSOP, have now been released. The funder, co-hosted by actor Don Cheadle and poker pro Annie Duke, drew a sizeable field of professional players, celebrities and athletes to the Brasilia Room at the Rio Convention Center, where the event was held.
Eighty-eight players signed up for the event, with nine ultimately cashing. Besides Cheadle and Duke, the pre-event publicity listed the following big names as participating taking part, with net proceeds from the event earmarked for relief for the war-torn Darfur region of Africa, hich continues to experience an extended humanitarian crisis. Participants included Jason Kidd, Charles Barkley, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Adam Sandler, Ray Romano, Scott Ian, Kevin Pollack, Jason Alexander, Cheryl Hines, George Lopez, Joe Trohman, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Erik Seidel, Phil Gordon, Rafe Furst, Barry Greenstein and others.
When play was complete several hours later, Johnny "World" Hennigan had claimed the title, officially winning $136,860. The complete list of winners in the event:
John Hennigan $136,860
Michael Degusta $85,536
Dan Shak $54,529
Phil Hellmuth $38,491
Matt Calhoun $31,006
Jerry Cantrell $25,660
Jordanna Schutz $21,384
Ray Romano $18,176
Casey Affleck $16,038
The event's proceeds specifically go to the Not On Our Watch (NOOW) project, the group founded by Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt to focus attention on stopping atrocities committed worldwide. The Darfur crisis was the group's inaugural campaign, and remains a focus of NOOW efforts.
