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The magnitude 7 earthquake that shook Haiti exactly one week from today has proven to be one of the worst natural disasters in the Americas and is a heart wrenching situation to say the least. The death toll continues to rise to the hundreds of thousands and to this day, the complete ramifications of this tear jerking catastrophe have not yet been uncovered. Many remain missing and rescue efforts are still underway. The entire world is aware of the situation and most of us are looking for a way to help. Even those in the poker community are uniting to provide relief to the suffering country in many different ways. The images of Haiti’s suffering as a result of this disaster are pulling on everyone’s heart strings, including the poker industry.

There are several ways to join in on the effort of providing the people of Haiti with the funding they so desperately need to begin the process of recovering from this horrible event. Professional Poker players including Annie Duke and Doyle Brunson as well as several poker rooms like UB.com and Bodog.com are joining the cause of raising funds to provide shelter, clean water, food and other essentials to the people of Haiti and you too can help.

The first and easiest way to contribute to the relief effort in Haiti is being spread across the world by poker players like Annie Duke and her brother Howard Lederer. This is to text the “Haiti” to the number 90999 to send a onetime donation of $10 to the Red Cross. This is among the most reputable organizations providing relief in Haiti right now and is so simple to do. Players can send the text from their mobile phones as many times as they would like and the donation will be added to their phone bill.

Here are several tweets from poker players related to helping Haiti:

“Join me on Wed 8:30pm EST on UB.com for a $10 tourney with rebuys. $10k in prizes added. All profits go to Haiti relief and UB will match 100%” – Tiffany Michelle

“Going to play a $10 razz tournament on Full Tilt Poker in 4 minutes. My tournament winnings on FTP this week will all go to Haiti.” – Andy Bloch

“please play! @ultimate_bet Haiti Charity Event Wed, Jan 20th” – Joe Sebok

“Full Tilt Poker is matching all funds raised on its site for Haiti relief.” – Howard Lederer

“Let’s lend a helping hand to those in need..Help support Haiti and donate àhttp://twitpic.com/y1r6l” – Liz Lieu

“Plz RT: Calvin Ayre challenges online gaming industry to help Haiti, by matching donations up to $1,000,000 in total – http://bit.ly/5uGB9e” – Evelyn Ng

“Text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 to @RedCross relief efforts in Haiti.” – Joe Sebok

There are lots of other ways to contribute as well. Tomorrow, DoylesRoom.com and its elite players including Doyle Brunson will ante up for Haiti to raise funds towards helping provide help where it’s needed most. The online poker room will be diverting all tournament fees collected in this Wednesday’s $50,000 Bounty Tournament to an organization aiding the relief effort in Haiti. Several Hollywood celebrities are expected to participate in the tournament along with the Brunson 10 members and Doyle. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the earthquake and the families of those affected by the disaster in Haiti,” said Doyle. “It’s times like these that make you realize how lucky all of us really are. It puts things in perspective.” Among those expected to participate in the tournament taking place on Wednesday, January 20 at 9:30pm ET are Mickey Rourke, Kevin Connolly and Nicky Hilton.

DoylesRoom.com’s Haiti Relief Bounty Tournament will match all bounty money won and donate the total relief efforts to Haiti up to $50,000 and also contribute all tournament fees collected. In addition, each first time player will get their money back for playing in the tournament and the poker room will donate an additional $27.50 towards relief efforts in Haiti per new player. This is an excellent way for players new to the site to help support this cause.

Calvin Ayre, the founder of Bodog, an online poker, casino and sports betting operator is challenging others within the industry to rise up and give to those devastated in the wake of this catastrophe. On his blog, Ayre reported that his foundation sent GBP 10,000 to Oxfam, a UK based relief organization and that is just the beginning. Ayre says that his foundation will match any donation from anyone in the online gambling industry up to $1,000,000.

“It is a disaster in Haiti. I know they have had a tough go from Mother Nature recently, hurricanes and now this earthquake. I cannot help but be disgusted with the ruling elite that has driven this county down like this while, no doubt, filling their own pockets,” said Ayre’s blog post. “That all said, the innocent as always are paying a horrendous price for this elite thievery, and I think the global online gaming community has a duty to do something.”

There is no doubt, by the way the online poker community has reacted to this crisis, that they are doing their part in helping give hope to the people of Haiti in a time of mourning. Money cannot get loved ones back, but it sure can help the survivors of the quake get back on their feet. With everyone’s help, we can help restore Haiti and give its people the help they need to recover from such a sad and life changing tragedy. Together we can make a difference in their lives.