One Drop made the Official Charity of WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP), which is set to host its first event on May 27 at the Las Vegas based Rio Hotel and Casino, has chosen One Drop as the official charity for the tournament. The WSOP will help One Drop in educating and raising awareness about the importance of clean water. Mitch Garber, CEO of the company that owns the WSOP (Caesars Interactive Entertainment) stated that the work that One Drop is doing is important and that it has a big effect on the lives of people who suffer without clean water. Garber mentioned that the company is dedicated to doing all it can to help One Drop in this.
Big One for One Drop
One of the ways Caesars Interactive plans to do this is to host a tournament called Big One for One Drop. The winner of the event will get an official bracelet from the WSOP. 11.11% of the buy-in will go towards the charity. As the entry fee is a massive $1,000,000, the charity will get $11,111 from each participant. With 30 players already signed in for the event, which is marked as #55 on the WSOP 2012 schedule, $3.3 million will be given to the charity. The event will take place on three days – 1st, 2nd and 3rd July. The final table of the event will be broadcast by ESPN. You can find out about the event in the WSOP 2012 section.
Players can Go All-In for One Drop
The WSOP will ask all players who make an in-the-money finish to donate a percentage of the sum to the charitable organization. The amount they contribute through the campaign, called All-In for One Drop, will be fully tax-deductible. The campaign is a step in the direction of giving all players the chance to make a difference.
According to Guy Laliberte, the Founder and Chair of One Drop, the initiatives that Caesars Entertainment is taking to involve the WSOP and its players to bring in money to the foundation, can have a huge impact. Select resorts run by Caesars Interactive will be a part of Big One for One Drop. They will play a role in communications campaigns and fund-raising directed at creating awareness about the cause. A few other ways in which Caesars Interactive will help One Drop are – by giving away two seats to Big One for One Drop (this way, the company will be making a $2 million commitment) and providing a booth to One Drop at an event to be held at Rio, so that the organization gets the chance to interact with players at the event and raise awareness.