The poker pro is carrying on his regular mantra of giving back to the community
The most successful people in some industries are taking leadership roles during this global coronavirus pandemic to promote a sense of solidarity to all the people in need during this crisis. Pro poker player Dan Smith has been organizing several charities for the last seven years, bringing poker pros and daily fantasy sports players together to participate. Smith organizes charity matching events that his collaborators know as Double Up Drive, which began in 2018. He’s now back to support the current crisis, and his latest Double Up Drive was described as an emergency drive to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, which is currently gripping much of the world.
Dan Smith has more than $36.8 million in lifetime earnings since his poker career started and currently sits in fifth place in the all-time money list. Smith explains of the new charity initiative, "This COVID-19 pandemic is really unprecedented and horrific. There’s really nothing we can do other than sit and wait while everyone’s in crisis. I tend to be someone who really likes to be proactive about doing things. So, having to sit and wait is really not good for my mental health. I kind of felt like I was waking up without a purpose. There’s only so much of [The] Sopranos I could watch each day. I decided to reach out to some people and it kind of got snowballing pretty quickly until now we have $250,000 ready to go to a bunch of families who are really in need in these dark times."
Thanks to donations from Card Player Player of the Year Stephen Chidwick, cash game legend Daniel “Jungleman” Cates and another anonymous donor, $250,000 has been pledged to match every $500 donation made until the funds are exhausted.
