The tournament schedule at the annual World Series of Poker virtually always includes events that donate money to charity. Even with bracelet events moved online due to the COVID-19 crisis, the WSOP Online 2020 series included a tournament with a charitable cause in mind.
Event #33: $1,111 Every 1 for Covid Relief (Caesars Cares) raised money for the Caesars Cares charity. Caesars Cares operates an assistance fund for employees of Caesars Entertainment who have suffered hardships in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
GGPoker.com hosted Event #33, a $1,111 buy-in tournament. For every buy-in, $111 was donated to the Caesars Care charity.
The event attracted 2,323 entries, earning $257,853 for the charity. GGPoker donated an additional $96,903, resulting in a total of $354,756 in donations to Caesars Cares.
The event also awarded a WSOP bracelet, which was won by Alek 'astazz' Stasiak. Stasiak took home $343,203 and his first career WSOP bracelet with the win.
GGPoker has raised more than $600,000 for COVID-19 relief
Event #33: $1,111 Every 1 for Covid Relief (Caesars Cares) marked the latest effort by GGPoker to donate to causes related to COVID-19. Along with other charity tournaments offered by the brand earlier in the year, GGPoker has donated more than $600,000 to COVID-19 relief.
With more than $350,000 of that total coming from the Every 1 for Covid Relief tournament, the event proved a big success.
“We are incredibly grateful to our partner GGPoker for their contribution to Caesars Cares,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart in a WSOP.com article. “This donation will provide needed support to Caesars Entertainment team members experiencing unexpected setbacks as we work towards resuming operations and restoring normal business conditions.
"As if GGPoker’s idea to direct a portion of the buy-in from each player to Caesars Cares wasn’t generous enough, we are absolutely floored and elated by their decision to contribute nearly another $100,000 to the fund.”
Online series continues WSOP charity tradition
The 2020 edition of the World Series of Poker was postponed due to the pandemic. WSOP.com and GGPoker joined forces to introduce an online version of the WSOP this summer.
The WSOP Online 2020 Series features 85 bracelet events. GGPoker.com hosts 54 events for players outside of the US, while WSOP.com operated the other 31 bracelet events on its New Jersey and Nevada platforms.
With Event #33 contributing to the Caesars Cares foundation, the World Series of Poker continued a long-standing tradition of donating to charitable causes. By running the tournament as part of the GGPoker side of the series, the WSOP created an opportunity for poker players around the world to chip in for the COVID cause.
“The international poker community really stepped up this time, and GGPoker was there to push the effort forward,” Daniel Negreanu, GGPoker Ambassador, said in the WSOP article. "We will continue to raise funds for worthy causes in the future, and I’m grateful to be part of something that’s helping to make such a difference.”
The tournament drew some of poker's biggest names. Kristen Bicknell, Fedor Holz, Jake Schindler, Bertrand Grospellier, Dario Sammartino, and Felipe Ramos were just a few of the myriad poker superstars that played in the $1,111 Every 1 for Covid Relief (Caesars Cares) event.
Even with the $111 from each buy-in going to the Caesars Care cause, the tournament yielded a total prize pool of more than $2.5 million.
