Poker and Charity go hand and hand...Pt.1

We all dream about raking in that million dollar pot, and in the back of our minds we know exactly what we are going to do with that money.  I bet you 9 times out of 10, donating some of our winnings rarely ever crosses our mind.   Maybe after reading this blog, that might change........

My story begins this past January while I was playing in the Pokerstars WBCOOP events.  Right before event #4, I found out that a dear friend of mine had lost her young nephew earlier in the day to Tay-Sachs Disease( Tay-Sachs is a progressive neurological genetic disorder).  I dedicated that event to him, and went on to cash for an $11 ticket into their SCOOP events.  That week I went on to earn $2100 in tickets.

A few days later, I decided that I would use one of my tickets to play for charity during the SCOOP's.  I also decided that I would try to set up an online event with all proceeds going to the National Tay-Sach's & Allied Diseases Association, Inc (please go to their website for more info.)  While this all sounded pretty cool, I had no idea where to start or even who to contact to get on the right path. 

I decided to contact NTSAD first to let them know what I wanted to do, and to also get more information about this deadly disease.  This would also prove important as they would be able to help provide any information the site(s) would need, and also to be able to confirm that I was indeed working with them to set this up.  They were thrilled that someone from the poker world would even consider trying to help out as this is not a disease that affects many people, especially kids. 

The easiest part was done, but the hardest part was to figure out who to contact at each on line site, and possibly finding a sponsored pro who might be able to help get the ball moving...........

This literally took me 6 weeks to figure out.  During this period I was able to reach out to a few pro's, but one would sign on and help me take it to the next level........

To be continued