The two powerhouses are hosting a poker tournament for coronavirus relief
The coronavirus pandemic is still hitting hard in several parts of the country, which has inspired the poker community to find new ways to do something to help. There have been many charity poker events online that surged just a few weeks after the stay-at-home orders were issued in the US, with millions raised to be distributed among several charities. Now, the World Poker Tour (WPT) has stepped in to do their part with a new charity event that has been announcing for the last few days. "The King’s Celebrity Poker Challenge on ClubWPT" will be hosted in partnership with Budweiser.
This event plans to bring celebrities and famous athletes together, as well as a world-class chef and philanthropist in WPT’s online poker site, ClubWPT. This celebrity poker tournament will be televised in the name of charity. The first episode will feature Chef Jose Andres, the founder of the World Central Kitchen. Additionally, NBA star Paul Gasol will be sitting at a poker table, too, alongside actor Jon Hamm and comedians Jason Alexander and Kevin Pollak. Also, surfing champion Kelly Slater will be there.
On behalf of Budweiser, the company will donate $15,000 on behalf of each of the six players sitting at the virtual poker table. All funds will be going directly to the World Central Kitchen. In addition to that donation, another $35,000 will be donated on behalf of the winner, for a total of $125,000 going to this food program.
The World Central Kitchen was founded in 2010 by Andres with the intention of bringing his talents and good-quality food to people in Haiti who suffered a devastating earthquake. He continued developing his project as he also worked with people of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017 as well as California after the fires in 2017 and 2018. More recently, the charity has been working across America where people are hungry during the coronavirus pandemic.