One of the best things about writing about the poker industry is getting to witness first hand, the unbridled philanthropy that so often runs amok among it's members, and so perhaps it's not surpassing that in the wake of the recent catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, our poker community is once again getting involved.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have lost their homes as a result of Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude quake, and it's now being estimated by the international Red Cross that around 50,000 may have even been killed as a result.  The damage is almost unimaginable and photos streaming in from Port-au-Prince make things seem nearly hopeless, yet thankfully, most poker players have very little quit in them.

One of the big ways the poker community is helping out in this time of suffering is through PokerStars.com, which has announced they will match any funds donated to the Red Cross by their players. 

There are currently two main ways to donate money through PokerStars and both utilize player's already set up real money accounts- happily bypassing credit card companies and any percentage they may take as a "transaction fee."

To donate money through PokerStars, players can either transfer it directly to the account "Haiti Fund" using the Transfer Funds tool under the Requests menu (just like you would when transferring funds to any regular player), or they can enter one of the "dummy tournaments" located in the "Special" section under the regular "Tourney" tab.  These tournaments range from $1 to $1,0000 and are all called "Haiti Earthquake Relief" for easy reference.  As the "dummy" name implies, these are not real tournaments, just an easy way for players to donate money to this important cause.

For non-PokerStars players eager to contribute, there are thankfully many other options to help out as well, including one put fourth by Bodog Founder Calvin Ayre, who is personally challenging the industry to step up.  Ayre initially donated ?10,000 to Oxfam to help their teams already on the ground in Haiti, and he pledges to have his foundation match any other donations collected by Oxfam as well (for up to $1,000,000)- assuming they can be proven to be made by an online gaming person. 

For more information visit www.calvinayre.com.


Story by Mark Anderson