On January 12th, Haiti suffered one of the world’s deadliest earthquakes as it reached a catastrophic magnitude of 7.0. Death tolls are still being counted, but estimates now range between 45,000 – 50,000 people. And lots of buildings and major landmarks where completely destroyed in the city of Port-au-Prince. With all of the destruction that has occurred in Haiti, the nation is definitely in need of some help and pro poker players are answering the call.
Annie Duke is one person who has reached out to Haiti as she is urging her fans to send “HAITI” texts to 90999 through her Twitter page; when these HAITI texts are sent, $10 will be donated to the Red Cross.
In addition to asking for people to help with donations, Duke has also taken it upon herself to put religious figure Pat Robertson in his place after he said, “The Haiti earthquake happened because they made a pact with the devil to get the French out.” Duke said that Robertson is a “douche”, and that Haiti will be able to persevere through the crisis with some aid.
Another poker player who can’t stand Pat Robertson, and is trying to help Haiti, is Annie Duke’s brother Howard Lederer. Lederer is asking people to send texts to the same place that Duke has so more $10 donations will be provided to the relief effort. He also stated his disdain for Robertson by saying, “I think the Haitians are due a refund from their pact with the Devil. Can Pat Robertson be a bigger moron?”
Besides professional players like Duke and Lederer stepping up to help Haiti out, amateur online players are sending in donations through the various poker websites where they play. That’s because different online poker rooms are setting up funds where players can send donations in that range from $1 – $1,000. With all of the donations coming in through these websites, it is clear that the online poker community is doing their best to help out with the Haiti crisis.
