Professional poker pro Dan Smith has shown that poker can be a game that’s also focused on helping others, besides assisting smart men and women amass riches to secure themselves cushy lifestyles.
Dan Smith’s Poker Charity
Back in 2017, professional poker player Dan Smith decided to join a charity fundraiser. The idea was to attract more like-minded poker players and others, of course, and the event proved to be a raging success. Overall, the initiative raked in $4.5 million to be divvied up between causes that deserved help and funding. Following its 2017’s success, the event is now back and Smith intends to conclude another round that promises to help people in need.
Very proud to announce the fifth annual charity drive. We are matching up to $1.14 MILLION towards your choice of ten charities! https://t.co/aBLDAqyySx
I wrote about the merits of each charities and other way you can help on my blog https://t.co/9UGCKW9Z7c#GivingTuesday
— Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) November 27, 2018
However, Smith is not merely setting an example, he’s putting the bar high, allocating $1.14 million of his own fortune estimated at $25 million in live earnings. A fellow player, Stephen Chidwick, is also prepared to disburse an impressive amount.
In this year’s edition, Smith will pick ten charities that will receive the money. The list is already available, too: Raising for Effective Giving (REG) the Hellen Keller International’s Vitamin A Supplementation Program, GiveDirectly, StrongMinds.com, the Animal Charity Evaluator Effective Animal Advocacy Fund, The Good Food Institute, the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, the Massachusetts Bail Fund and the Malaria Consortium’s disease prevention initiative.
The Charities to Receive Funding
The charities have been chosen specifically to represent a diverse set of areas, including poker with Raising for Effective Giving (REG). As to Smith himself, he has urged people to donate as much as they can afford and that no amount was actually “small” or “unnecessary”. Last year’s edition saw over 700 people throw in their financial support.
This year, Smith and his co-hosts hope to raise even more money for the causes. To do a donation, people can just drop the sum at the charity’s website and then just e-mail the receipt directly to doubleupdrive.com. If the individual would like to be listed as a contributor on the website, they will have to specify so in their e-mail, too.
Of course, Smith is one of the most accomplished players at the felt. His winnings estimated at $25 million are substantial and his successes are many. He is one of the most prominent World Poker Tour (WPT) players, too.
Even though some of the top titles of the game still elude him and he’s in the habit of finishing in the first positions more often than actually taking down a table, Smith’s successes have been well-documented and his charity is just another excellent feature that tops off his character.
During the summer tournaments in Las Vegas, Smith managed to pull off an astounding achievement, amassing $5 million. He managed to finish third in the $1 million buy-in One Drop event at the World Series of Poker.
Smith has won the commendations of fellow established professionals, including Daniel Negreanu who said that to him, there was no doubt that Dan Smith was the world’s best player to wear the WPT bracelet. Mind that the pair met in The Season XVI WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, with Smith triumphing over Negreanu.
