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Charles Barkley - Poker Player

June 20, 2008

Charles Barkley is a poker player. He has made no secret over the years of his love for gambling and how much he has lost over time. However, this time Barkley is in it for more than the money, he is in it for charity.

This entrance into the poker tournament comes as a surprise to many as it comes just a month after Barkley pledged not to gamble anymore. However, he says he couldn’t say no as it is for charity.

Barkley will be playing in a celebrity poker tournament at the 2008 World Series of Poker on July 2nd. It is the “Ante Up for Africa” event, and it is raising money and awareness for the Darfur crisis in the Sudan.

For those of you that have been living under a rock, the Darfur crisis is the displacement of more than 2.5 million and the deaths of more than 300,000 people since ethnic warfare began back in 2003. The problem has become absolutely horrific over there, and many celebrities have been lending their name to it in order to get people aware and motivated to help those in need.

The poker players in this particular fund raiser are putting up $5,000 to play, and then give at least half of their winnings to the charity. Last year they raised more than a half a million dollars, and the top two players pooled their winnings and donated their share as well.

Barkley has already pledged all of his winnings to the charity. Barkley comes back to gambling after promising not to gamble anymore. He had gotten himself into trouble when he was sued by a Las Vegas Strip casino in May for failing to pay $400,000 in back loans to the casino. He paid back his debt as well as $40,000 in district attorney’s fees.

He says that he is not going to gamble for a couple of years because of the losses. Barkley said that although he can afford to lose at poker, he shouldn’t be just throwing his money away.