August 31, 2005 – Today, bodoglife.com announced it would be hosting five daily online benefit poker tournaments for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the many victims caught in the devastating path of the hurricane,” says Calvin Ayre, Founder and CEO of bodoglife.com. “So many people have been adversely affected by this natural disaster, and our benefit poker tournament is the least we can do to help ease the pain of those who were most affected.”
Hurricane Katrina has left the U.S. Gulf Coast in ruins, with more than a million people sweltering without power, and thousands of people displaced. Eighty percent of New Orleans is reportedly under water, and the death toll continues to climb. According to preliminary assessments, the damage is estimated to be more than $25 billion.
Bodog is applying its experience in hosting benefit poker tournaments to launch the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Tournaments, running daily Sept. 8-12. Bodog will match and donate all of the players’ fees from the five poker tournaments to the Red Cross hurricane relief fund.
The tournaments are the latest charity efforts by the online entertainment powerhouse.
In July, Bodog teamed with the Fisher House foundation to host “Bodog Salutes the Troops: A Tribute to American Heroes”, a two-day charity concert and poker tournament that benefited the men and women of the U.S. military. Earlier in the year, Bodog was the major sponsor of the LA Lakers Youth Foundation’s Second Annual Casino Night. A handful of film celebrities, poker professionals and Lakers basketball stars were on hand to compete in the charity poker tournament.
bodoglife.com, located in San Jose, Costa Rica, is federally licensed by the Costa Rican and UK governments. One of the pioneers in the field, bodoglife.com is the top-ranked US facing online gambling brand, with highest site traffic amongst multi-product US gaming web sites according to Hitwise.