International Poker Champs Play for the Homeless

Not that the charity directors decided to step into a casino poker rooms to win money for the starving and roofless. At least, there is nothing in the news to indicate that.

Yet, the love for gambling in South America motivated the creative directors to approach a handful of international poker stars to play in a tournament to raise money for the organization.

During the Latin American Poker Tour, the famous players including Mey Santamaria, Ricardo Meruane, Antonio Vodanovic, Arturo Longton, and Luciano Marochino, put their stakes on behalf of the charity to win some real money for the needy.

The winner, Antonio Vodanovic, decided that he will continue to help in eradicating poverty, encouraged by the fact that the current efforts brought help to 12,000 families in 190 camps where disenfranchised seek shelter.

This makes us wonder, why no one so far, at least on a larger scale, has approached online poker sites in Chile in efforts to raise money? The internet-based casino model can, indeed, be a very profitable one, and online casinos can benefit from additional publicity.

The Chilean gambling laws also permit many forms of gambling including online and mobile counterparts, making it easy to operate in the country, so it may be time for these establishments to start benefiting the society.

Poker is not the only table game that is popular in Latin America. Other games such as blackjack and baccarat attract numbers of gamblers. Tournaments around these can also be organized, helping the casinos with good publicity and charities with needed funding.