Phil Gordon wins 2010 Ante Up for Africa event

Celebrities and poker pros congregated last weekend at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino for the fourth annual “Ante Up for Africa” charity event. The $5,000 buy in event was held at Rio Hotel and Casino on Saturday afternoon and drew a field of 83 players for a prize pool of $408,240.

The list of celebrities attending the event included “Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett, Pittsburgh Steelers player Jerome Bettis, comedian David Alan Grier, talk show host Montel Williams, boxing legend Evander Holyfield, Australian footballer Shane Warne, actors Matt Damon, Ben Affleck. Poker pros taking part in the 2010 Ante Up for Africa event included World Series of Poker champs Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, former WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem, Jennifer Harman, Michael Mizrachi, and Annie Duke.

The non-bracelet charity event was created in 2006 by player Annie Duke, actor and activist Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein in an effort to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

The final heads up match featured model and Carbon Poker sponsored pro Shannon Elizabeth and top pro Phil Gordon. The final hand of the tournament came when Shannon Elizabeth moved all in from the button fholding Kc-10h and was called by Phil Gordon with Qh-3s. The board ran Qs-6s-8d-Ah-5d. Giving Gordon the victory with a pair of Queens.

The two players immediately turned around and donated their winnings back to Ante Up for Africa. In addition, the other seven players in the final table also donated sizable percentages of their winnings to the charity, raising over $275,000 for this noble cause.

"I've been to a lot of the countries that have been affected by the violence. ... I've seen first hand the kind of devastation that these kinds of wars and violence caused. And it's great to be able to donate a huge amount of money to support that cause. I couldn't feel better about it." commented Gordon after his victory.

2010 Ante Up For Africa Final table Results:
Phil Gordon: $129,086
Shannon Elizabeth: $79,776
Aleksey Filatov: $55,843
Carter Phillips: $40,676
Erik Seidel: $29,926
Jerome Bettis: $22,355
Barry Hartheimer: $17,930
Kyle Carlston: $14,945
Claire Renaut: $12,843