Don Cheadle's Ante Up for Africa Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament Is Set For July 2nd At the Rio in Las Vegas

Don Cheadle's Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament is set for July 2, 2009 at 2pm at the WSOP® in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino®, during the infamous World Series of Poker and there will lots of A-list celebrities and sports stars playing this year.Matt Damon and Ben Affleck join Don Cheadle and Annie Duke for the tournament. Other confirmed stars include Brad Garrett, Cedric TheEntertainer, Charles Barkley, Danny Masterson, Hank Azaria, Herschel Walker, Jason Alexander, Kenny Smith, Marlon Wayans, Montel Williams,Reggie Miller, Tia Carrere, Sarah Silverman, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Cheryl Hines, Mekhi Phifer, Rob Schneider, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch,Tiffany Michelle, Erik Seidel and Phil Hellmuth.

The tournament will feature a fast-paced structure designed to complete the competition within five hours. Seating for the tournament is open to anyone age 21 or older.

Ante Up For Africa raises money and awareness for Africans in the Sudan,and to date Ante Up For Africa has raised close to $2 million for the cause and has donated to organizations such as Not On Our Watch, ENOUGH and The International Rescue Committee.

You can get more information about this cause from The Enough Project andget great coverage of this event from Pokerlistings, who will be covering the event live.

The dire crisis in Darfur is entering its sixth year. The conflict has killed 400,000 people and forced more than 3 million Darfuris to flee their homes. The recent expulsion of key international humanitarian groups by the government of Sudan in response to the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir has placed hundreds of thousands of the most needy at even greater risk and without access to medical care or reliable food supplies. President Bashir continues to utilize starvation as a weapon of war to silence his opponents and to distract the world from the key issues in Darfur. Now more than ever, there needs to be a dynamic international effort to move beyond simply treating the symptoms of Sudan's crisis and focuses on ENDING it by forging a lasting and equitable peace for all of Sudan. If you want to learn more about the crisis in Sudan and what you can do to make a difference, visit enoughproject.org.

Our hope is that through efforts like Ante Up For Africa, we can continue to keep the issue in the spotlight while providing real funds to support a brighter future for the people of Sudan.

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