Play Poker and Save Lives
A couple of years ago my step mother was diagnosed with cancer right around Christmas. It was a pretty scary time and we all missed Christmas while she was in the hospital to try and save her life, which they did. Over a year later and a ton of treatments she was declared in remission. I hoped this close brush with cancer was over but we knew that we would have to wait for 5 years of “all clear” results for her to be listed in the “survivor” category. Still, she was out of the woods and on her way to recovery so life started getting back to normal.
Shortly after that is when the other shoe dropped. Last year I was dealt a terrible hand, not in poker, but in life. My wife Aeryn was diagnosed with cancer. It was the worst day of my life and I’ll never forget it. For a long time she was sick and they couldn’t find out what was wrong with her. They finally figured out what it was about a year ago and after a long year of treatments and doctor’s visits she was also declared in remission. Now we begin our long journey of seeing the doctor for regular tests and hoping each one is clear for the next 5 years and then yearly for the rest of her life.
So far, we’ve been lucky. If it means I’ve used up all my luck I’ll gladly accept it. But there is so much we can do to help put and end to cancer and have fun while doing it. Phil Gordon wasn’t so lucky when his aunt lost her battle with cancer and she was the person who introduced him to poker. Now he’s putting his passion for the game to work to try and put an end to cancer - for good.
Phil has started up a charity where professional players and hobbyists alike can take their game and turn it into a way to help fund cancer research and care. Professional players like Join Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Paul Wolfe, Mike Matusow, Marcel Luske, and Jennifer Harman have all agreed to donate 1% of their winnings to this charity. These are some of the top tournament champions in the game! Poker is literally saving lives and as a poker player and someone who’s life has been effected by cancer, I’m extremely happy to see this thing doing well.
One of my favorite parts of Phil’s charity is his suggestion to hobby players who run their own home games. Simply set aside some of the pot from your games to donate to the charity. You’ll even get a form that makes your donation a tax deduction and for players who make a lot of money that could be a huge help come April. The point is, at every level of the game we can all pitch in and make a difference. Have fun playing poker and help save lives. It just doesn’t get much better than that.
For more information check out Put a Bad Beat on Cancer.
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1 Comment to “Play Poker and Save Lives”
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Andy
January 10th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
That’s a great tip Chrispian. Many people say “that’s a shame” but a much smaller percentage actually actively work to make the situation better. This is an inventive exception!