News of the 7.0 magnitude earth quake which devastated Haiti earlier this month has dominated the world media in recent weeks. While chartites and organisations around the world rallied to raise funds and deliver aid to the survivors of the earthquake, the online poker community has managed to donate over $1.5 million.
In a press release the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) have called the effort “A tribute to the generosity of the poker community”, and their chairman, Alfonse D’Amato stated that:
“Like the rest of the world, the poker community is eager to do anything it can to aid Haito in the wake of the devastating earthquake. I applaud PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Cake Poker for providing poker players across the globe an easy way to make a contribution. The generosity online poker players are showing makes me even more proud to be part of this community.”
Full Tilt poker saw 22,785 donations raising a total of $293,211 from site members, which Full Tilt matched for a total donation of $586,423, over one third of the total figure according to the PPA. The PPA said that 50,000 individual poker players around the world have donated a total of $760,000, an average of $15 each. Online poker sites have matched these donations making a total in excess of $1.5 million.
Well done to everyone in the poker community who donated.
