«

Ante-Up for Africa Stiffed by 2nd Place Finisher?

Hard to say when optional donations in play

Comments (66)
by , Jul 3, 2009 | 4:37 am

Richardson, accused of taking a less-than-charitable payout option.

Kinda bummed I missed Ante-Up for Africa yesterday … Hollywood A-list celebrity-related traffic aside (and pictures of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Charles Barkley, Don Cheadle, Jason Alexander, Dean Cain, Brad Garret, Herschel Walker, and Sarah Silverman playing poker) … this is arguably the biggest charity poker tournament of the year (in the world) … and I was curious how the money worked. It was my understanding that originally, 50 percent of the prize pool went to Refugees International a charity* … and the big winners, being already-rich folks moved by the excitement of no-limit hold’em and thoughts of a tax-deductible feel-good gesture, often chose to give their cash prize over to the honorary good cause as well.

But this year people were telling me it was a mere request for generosity — that winners give at least 50 percent of their prize payout to AUFA, which would be shipping the money to the Sudanese cause via the Enough Project (and the IRC?). That seemed a little odd to me, because hey, if the wrong person wins, there could be a problem. Sure enough, an email just came in over the transom — skewering a player named Adam Richardson, who most recently finished in 143rd place in a $1,500 NLH at this year’s WSOP, and 624th in last year’s main event — with the subject line, “What a Prick!”:

Not sure if you got this news. But the prick who won second place in the World Series of Poker charity event which is Ante Up For Africa, completely stiffed the charity.

Players do not have to give any money, according to the rules. But all the players know this is an important event set up to help a very good cause.

Many witnesses said the player was approached afterward by some of the organizers. He was asked politely if he cared to leave a donation, and replied that no one could do anything to stop him and that he was leaving with all the prize money. He walked out the door with like over $100,000.

The player was rude during the tournament and obviously had his own agenda, which was not in the spirit of helping the Ante Up for Africa cause. He likely saw a softer than usual field and took advantage. He had every intention of enriching himself at the expense of the charity.

The player’s name is Adam Richardson, from Poway, California.

He is bad for poker and needs to be called out for taking an angle shot in this event. I hope you will agree this is despicable behavior. The guy is a total prick. Roast his fucking ass.

Hunter

Hmm, if this is true, indeed, arguably poor form. We have not confirmed any of this (and I wasn’t there for the actual event), but the above is the email that’s circulating, and it at least raises the question why a certain chunk of the prize pool isn’t automatically taken out for the charity itself (as it is with most charity poker events).

* Ante Up for Africa “designated charities” have included the Enough Project, Not on Our Watch, and the International Rescue Committee. Refugees International was the recipient of Annie Duke’s Celebrity Apprentice fundraisers.

NOTE: Adam Richardson (unconfirmed) responds to “Hunter’s” accusations in the comments below.


Tags: , , , , , , , ,
← Older Comments
  • josh

    Fire hunter

  • sadpanda

    I don’t really feel that bad for Richardson getting hated on. So he admits he was actually rude to the guy who asked on him on 3 separate occasions about a donation while just walking around on the phone. If the pregnancy was that difficult, maybe he should have skipped playing poker, and been in the hospital with his wife. I feel sorry for the guy whose job it was to follow this asshole around until he finally would give an answer. How long does it take to say “Hey man, I’m gonna email them later, I won’t have an answer for you tonight, go home.”? Only marginally longer than it takes to say “Wait another (however many) minutes, I’m on the phone, you worthless $7/h peon” 3 times. Who cares if that guy is tired and wants to go home..

    Couldn’t get anymore self-righteous in here, so I thought I’d add some. Enjoy.

  • sadpanda

    and Hunter is the worst of them. Shouldn’t have given him such a voice…

  • Enrique Rios(PrimogenitoX)

    I personally vouch for Adam Richardson’s integrity. I have had multiple five figure dealings with him and found him to be above reproach. All of you in Dallas know who I am and all of you online know me as PrimogenitoX. I would feel comfortable loaning him a quartermillion no questions asked.

  • Truong Nguyen

    I like Pokerati but publishing an anonymous email is in very poor form.

    The WSOP issued a press release stating this never happened and the guy pledged btween 50-100% of his winnings to charity. Most people take him at his word. Why hasnt this been changed?

  • DanM

    follow-up coming … but i can say here that my research has backed up most of what adam richardson is contending.

  • Zero

    For those of you wondering why he would choose another organization to donate to, many of these “charities” take a LARGE percentage of all donations out for so called “administrative costs”, sometimes up to 90% in some extreme cases.

    Does anyone know what $ of each donation for AUFA goes toward these “admistrative” costs?

  • DanM

    AUFA isn’t even a charity, technically, it’s an organization that raises money for charity and then gives the money to other charities to distribute. just a point of order …

  • sadderpander

    Does A.R. donate money to charity from his other poker wins or is he just donating to his charity now on aufa’s time? Sort of an interesting question, No?

  • DanM

    you’re right, sadderpander! Though I don’t have proof of it, I think AR played in this event because he actually cares about the issue … and it seems like he can show he’s put his money where his mouth is. But I’m not hearing that he has a specific problem with the AUFA charities, just that he knows a better one. And if that’s the case … well then you do have to wonder if the ends justify the means.

    At the same time, regardless of the charity itself, he apparently has an issue with the organizer — Annie Duke — and some of her past associations. While it may be bad form to tarnish someone’s good work by questioning them about their bad … hey, if he’s willing to pony up $5k for the chance to address an issue, it’s hard to not let him speak his peace.

    I swear we have a new post coming addressing this stuff with more facts than speculation.

  • anonymous

    So where is the promised new post addressing all of this????

  • DanM

    sorry “anonymous” … i had a medical situation pop up demanding my time, and then you know, that whole WSOP thing.

    fortunately there is nothing technically inaccurate in the original post, and there is plenty of discussion around any possible misinterpretations.

    but by all means, i look forward to discussing charity tournaments further — this one specifically. and i think there’s an interesting timing issue with jeff shulman’s similar approach to the main event final table.

    lots to think about.

  • DeadDraw

    New post link? Been over a month.

  • Kevin Mathers

    Interest in the thread on 2+2 has been revived since the ESPN episode aired. Apparently, Annie still says that Adam has still stiffed AUFA. Adam then produced a copy of the check he made out for 10% of his winnings to AUFA, and apparently will donate another percentage to any charity in Darfur that isn’t AUFA (apparently leaning towards World Vision).

  • DanM

    I am aware. Just haven’t seen the episode yet. I have spoken to Adam, Annie, Norman Chad, and an independent charity tourney operator (who happens to be the only one licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission to host charity events) …

    - Annie is NOT saying Adam stiffed her. That much I know.
    - Adam did NOT stiff the charity, and he had a point to make — it wasn’t a greedy money grab.
    - AUFA is probably not a dirty charity. Though other charities may give a higher percentage of their take, AUFA takes a bigger multimedia, multi-charity approach to the cause … and ultimately have raised (and delivered) more money to Darfur than any other.
    - People connected to Hollywood can be assholes.
    - People connected to 2+2 can be _________ (you fill in the blank).
    - As far as charity events go, this one could’ve been set up better to stay in step with regularly changing NGC rules/laws, and avoid this sort of problem. Money CAN be withheld from a charity prize pool, but it would take some set-up to run it through a Nevada based charity that would then send it to others.

  • http://none WelshFish

    i’ve read this and all i can deduce is that DanM is a s-hitstirring Twa-t..

    wow, you seem to me as a dangerous gossiping wan-ker, the kind i used to bar out of my pubs in the uk for causing trouble by sh-itstirring.

    i’d def knock u str8 out if i was Richardson.

← Older Comments