Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund

[FCP Bob 1,312]

As most of us must know by now the devastation in Haiti is horrible and tens of thousands of people are dead and there are hundreds of thousands of people who need help.Poker Stars will match any donations made and send the money to the Red Cross for Earthquake Relief in Haiti.There are 2 ways to make a donation.1. Transfer any amount you can spare to the account "Haiti Fund", using the Transfer Funds tool under the Requests menu of the main Poker Stars lobby.2. Enter in one of the "dummy" tournaments which will be located under the Tourney > Special tab. Please note these are not real tournaments, they are simply a means for you to donate and publicly show your support for the relief efforts.All donations will be matched by Poker Stars and donated to the Red Cross

[Mercury69 3]

Good news...That country is in even more trouble than it was.

[TwstdWrstr 10]

Awesome idea Stars!

[Ben_G 0]

Awesome idea Stars!

[aknapp1112 0]

I am getting ready to head down their onboard the USNS Comfort to support the command and control, data and communication needs that will be used. I have gotten some feedback, "intel" and stuff like that... they REALLY need all kinds of help. My hats off to pokerstars in doing this and encourage EVERYONE to do what they can for this to help as much as they can. I will try and update how things are going while down there. Advanced thanks to those that do what they can to help this country and their people in a great time of need.

[Ko8e34 0]

I will be playing in the lower buyin tourneys and encourage all people to donate via Stars as opposed to any other method because stars matches our donations!Prayers go out to all affected.Also I find it funny BKice is only donating $500 as opposed to 1k, I mean its not like he had the weekend of a lifetime without having to play poker... still a good gesture by him though

[MaxStPolish 4]

I think 500 is a fantastic gesture regardless.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

A little Birdy told me that over $100K has been donated by Poker Stars players so far.

[MaxStPolish 4]

That's just awesome. I actually just donated through work today, who offered a match as well.Poker players always come through for causes. Would be great if the gov't could come though for poker players one time (US).

[Syntonic 0]

Why does it always take horrible disasters/events to bring people together?I'm not trying to derail this thread or to discredit the relief fund. I'm just curious if anyone has a sensible answer.

[Boners_Galore 0]

Awesome idea Stars!

A little Birdy told me that over $100K has been donated by Poker Stars players so far.

That's a pretty impressive and not to mention quick response imo. If only I still had money on stars. Come on FT, get with the humanitarianism.

[bmtphs05 0]

The 'dummy' tournament total is up to around $95,000 right now. Who knows how much has been donated directly into the Haiti Fund account.Nicely done, everybody.

[coug2828 8]

I am getting ready to head down their onboard the USNS Comfort to support the command and control, data and communication needs that will be used. I have gotten some feedback, "intel" and stuff like that... they REALLY need all kinds of help. My hats off to pokerstars in doing this and encourage EVERYONE to do what they can for this to help as much as they can. I will try and update how things are going while down there. Advanced thanks to those that do what they can to help this country and their people in a great time of need.

good luck dude. looks like pure hell.

[tbrick412 0]

That's a pretty impressive and not to mention quick response imo. If only I still had money on stars. Come on FT, get with the humanitarianism.

there is some username on ftp you can send it too, not sure exactly what it is though

[Tosh 0]

donated

[pbwl11 0]

donated+1

[JaNnN 0]

Very worthy cause. I'll be donating a minimum of an x amount tonight but if I run good will also donate half my winnings... I think it will be the x-amount I'll be donating in the end.

[Governator 54]

I donate when I play anyway, so why not give it those who need it most. Also texted a donation, didn't realize pokerstars would match the amount or would've done it all through them initially.

[coug2828 8]

FTP is running tourney's for this now too, just got an email

Help raise funds for the crisis in Haiti by playing in our Aid for Haiti tournaments, running through Sunday, January 17th. All funds raised will be matched by Full Tilt Poker and donated to charity.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

Dan Druff says not to donate, and here's why..http://www.donkdown.com/forum/don-t-donate...und-t72863.html

.. unless you want your hard earned cash to go towards subsidizing Pokerstars' marketing efforts.Before you jump down my throat and accuse me of being a heartless Jew, allow me to explain...In December, 2004, Indonesia and several other countries were devastated by a tsunami. I'm sure you all remember.I watched the news footage of the situation, and I felt really bad for the people affected by it. I saw that Pokerstars was collecting donations for aid to the area. It seemed like the right thing to do. I shipped $100.I felt good about my token donation, until I saw the way everything unfolded.Pokerstars ended up collecting something like $187,000 in donations. I was happy to see that they matched it, as my donation was now essentially doubled. Then I read a bit more and realized what was really going on.First, Pokerstars upped the "match" to where the total donation ended up at an even $400k, instead of $374k or whatever. What's the problem there? I felt like my donation was basically useless, as Pokerstars would be donating the same $400k whether or not I contributed my individual $100.But, okay, I could live with that. I rationalized that my donation made up part of the $187k, and that it was a small piece of the large figure that Pokerstars more than doubled. For example, I figured that had they collected $91k instead of $187k, they would have only donated $200k, so my donation (in a way) still made a difference.Just as I convinced myself to be okay with the whole thing, something disturbing appeared on my television.I was watching a very high-profile, highly-watched telethon for the tsunami victims. Suddenly, there was a big presentation of a large gift to the Red Cross. Yes, Pokerstars was donating $400,000, and they got substantial airtime, as Lee Jones arrogantly walked on stage and bragged about the site's generosity.That's when I realized what was really going on.This was all about marketing.Pokerstars got huge exposure by getting substantial airtime on a very highly rated TV special. This was basically a $400,000 commercial for Pokerstars -- and the players footed nearly half the bill! My $100 was sadly part of that. I felt duped. To add insult to injury, Lee Jones did not give the players any credit for the donation. It was simply $400,000 from Pokerstars.net.:rolledDid the saga end there?Not exactly.Pokerstars screwed up awhile later and accidentally released a list of some people who donated, referencing their screen name with their real name! The details of this are a bit fuzzy now, but Pokerstars sent out an apology for this breach of privacy, and allowed the affected parties to change their screen names.What a mess!Anyway, if you donate to this Haiti Fund, I guarantee that they will be using it as some sort of marketing ploy, and they'll take all of the credit.If you want to donate to Haiti, do it through a legitimate charitable organization that isn't doing it to grandstand or sell something.

[rcgs59 15]

also donated via stars

[llou 0]

Is Dan Druff actually so stupid as to think that businesses make a habit of donating to charity anonimously? Has he never watched a sporting event on television? Has he never noticed that the NFL advertises its support of the United Way, the PGA gives millions each year to charity? etc. Has he never seen a telethon of any kind?Of course PokerStars is going to get a little PR milage from its charity work. They would be stupid not to take public credit for it. That doesn't bother me at all. Personally, I WANT the poker community to show the world that we are caring, responsible people -- and not a bunch of degenerates to be afraid of.Thank you, PokerStars, for providing this avenue through which people can contribute to the cause in Haiti while also helping the public image of poker.

[aucu 3]

Dan has it wrong, who cares if Stars gets some PR it could bring in some new fish.

[Stiles2004 0]

Just because something helps two causes (Haiti and Poker Stars), does not make it a bad reason to donate

[Ben_G 0]

Just because something helps two causes (Haiti and Poker Stars), does not make it a bad reason to donate

I agree.... the important thing is the money is going to Haiti where its needed most if Pokerstars wants to double it Great!