Home / Poker News November 2011 / Poker Pros to Help the Needy During Holidays
Poker Pros to Help the Needy During Holidays
Posted by: James Carter. - Fri, 2011-11-25 14:21
Several live tournament series have wrapped up in various parts of the country in recent days. Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Jacksonville all saw the winners scoop up the spoils and the whole congregation of money-hungry green –felt warriors pack up shop and roll out of town. Where are these guys headed? Home for the holidays, where else?
Professional players will be especially glad to take a break from the grind. The small holiday hiatus will allow them to take a much needed step back and relax, contemplating on just how lucky they can count themselves for being able to do what they like for a living.
For many, the holidays represent the perfect opportunity to be charitable and to offer a helping hand where it’s most needed. One of the most charismatic poker pros,
PokerStars’ Canadian player Daniel Negreanu is among those eager to give back to the community. Negreanu has always been involved in charity work, mostly through his donations, but this year, the Canadian decided to take a more hands-on approach to charity. The Three Square hunger relief program is the beneficiary of Negrenu’s off-the-green-felt skills and services. The organization collects food donations which it then distributes to various shelters and soup kitchens in Southern Nevada.
Negreanu works 2 days a week from 9 to 12 in the Kids Cafe and he even went on a day trip once to one of the schools where the organization distributed food to kids, 98% of whom qualified for the assistance program.
Maria Ho is another poker pro who gets her hands dirty during Thanksgiving. She has been involved in the cooking and distribution of Thanksgiving meals for the homeless for the last few years. She also collects various goods during the holidays which she then donates to shelters and charity organizations. Ho said she felt truly blessed to be able to afford to do what she wanted to do when she wanted to do it, and that it made her keener to lend a helping hand to those in need.
