Look To The Stars News: Boris Becker

Boris Becker To Play Poker For Charity

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:30:00 -0000

Former tennis great Boris Becker will be one of the famous faces attending the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure charity poker tournament to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) in The Bahamas on January 8.

The amfAR Charity Event will run as part of the PCA Festival of Poker at the Atlantis in The Bahamas with celebrities, sports stars and top pro players among those set to take part. The tournament will have a $5,250 buy-in and half of the entire prize pool will go to amfAR to support their innovative research to help fight the global AIDS epidemic.

This star-studded event will welcome major PokerStars-sponsored sports stars such as NHL star and Olympic gold medalist Mats Sundin, tennis legend Boris Becker and French rugby player Sebastien Chabal as well as members of Team PokerStars Pro – including newly-crowned World Series champion Joe Cada.

Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu is a big supporter of PokerStars charity initiatives and has pledged his support. “PokerStars is bringing a truly innovative and fulfilling cause to the PCA this year through their partnership with amfAR. As a member of Team PokerStars Pro, I feel very lucky to be able to participate in, and contribute to, such a worthwhile cause in the name of AIDS research.”

Founded in 1985, amfAR is dedicated to ending the global AIDS epidemic through innovative research. With the freedom and flexibility to respond quickly to emerging areas of scientific promise, amfAR plays a role in accelerating the pace of HIV/AIDS research and achieving real breakthroughs. amfAR has invested nearly $290 million in its mission and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.

Find out more about the tournament here.

Stars To Hit The Tables For Ante Up For Africa

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

PokerStars is proud to be hosting the first Ante Up For Africa (AUFA) Europe charity poker tournament, being held as part of the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final tonight, April 27.

The event has attracted a star-studded field of celebrities and pro players, all helping to raise money and awareness for the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

Confirmed celebrities include: Nelly, Boris Becker, Jason Lewis, Benji and Joel Madden, ‘Heroes’ star James Kyson Lee, boxer Vladimir Klitschko, Christina Milian, The Dream, Daniel Negreanu and Joe Hachem.

The tournament will take place April 27, the day before the start of the Grand Final. All prize money will be donated to Not On Our Watch and the ENOUGH Project – both of which provide valuable aid and assistance for victims of the Darfur crisis.

More info available at PokerStars.com.

Michael Jordan's Charity Golf Tournament A Success

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

The eighth annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational (MJCI) – held at the Ocean Club Golf Course in the Bahamas – was once again a huge success. Jordan was joined by numerous friends who helped his four-day event raise over $150,00 for several worthy causes including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the James R. Jordan Foundation and the Butch Kerzner Summit Foundation.

Since the MJCI began in 2000, nearly $5 million has been raised for charity, making it one of celebrity golf’s most popular events.

“All year long, I look forward to hosting my friends at the Ocean Club Golf Course,” said Michael Jordan. “There’s no place I’d rather be in January than in the Bahamas, on Paradise Island, raising money for some very worthy causes.”

Celebrity pairings in this year’s tournament included: John Smoltz & Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Brett Hull & Brandi Chastain, Ozzie Smith & Paul O’Neill, Ahmad Rashad & Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Jordan & Toni Kukoc, John Elway & Alonzo Mourning, Richard Dent & Ken Griffey Jr., Stone Phillips & Marcus Allen, Boris Kodjoe & Boris Becker, Mike Piazza & Josh Duhamel, and Bill Clinton & Scott Caan among others.

The event winners, Julius “Dr. J” Erving and John Smoltz, donated their winnings to individual charities close to their hearts. Erving donated $20,000 to the Cory Martin Erving Foundation in honor of his son who passed away in 2000, and Smoltz donated $20,000 to Kings Ridge Christian School in Alpharetta, GA. Paradise Island Tourism Development Association (PITDA) was this year’s Presenting Sponsor. The Jordan Brand and ICON International were also major sponsors, among a range of others.

George Clooney Hosts Charity Dinner For Darfur

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Actor George Clooney raised $14.57 million for charity when he hosted a fundraising party in London last Thursday, December 4.

The dinner party was held at the home of banker Roger Jenkins, a senior executive at Barclays, with guests – such as Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Cindy Crawford, Sarah Ferguson, Bono, David Walliams, Michael Caine, Claudia Schiffer, Christian Slater, and Guy Ritchie – paying up to $20,000 for a ticket. Kid Rock provided the entertainment, while television chefs Antony Worrall Thompson and Ainsley Harriott provided the food.

Proceeds from the evening went to Clooney’s Not On Our Watch, a charity he founded with actor Don Cheadle in 2007 to focus global attention and resources towards putting an end to mass atrocities in Darfur.

Clooney followed up the charity dinner by presenting ‘Golden Heart’ awards to aid workers who have spent time working in Darfur at the Ein Herz Für Kinder charity event in Berlin on Saturday night. Hosted by Thomas Gottschalk, the televised event also featured an appearance by Boris Becker.

Celebs Sign Mercedes for 46664 Auction

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:30:00 -0000

Written by Jennifer Beckmann

There was a lot of action backstage at the 46664 Concert Honouring Nelson Mandela at 90 last Friday night. In addition to performing and giving interviews, celebrities were asked to sign a new Mercedes-Benz C350. Mercedes-Benz, a lead sponsor of the Mandela concert, then presented the vehicle to 46664, which will put it on the auction block.

Celebrities whose autographs now decorate the car include Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, Queen and Paul Rodgers, Annie Lennox, Simple Minds, Peter Gabriel, the Sugababes, Razorlight, Jamelia, Zuccero, Geri Halliwell, Eddy Grant, the Soweto Gospel Choir, Quincy Jones, and Lewis Hamilton.

Earlier in the day, tennis legend and Mercedes-Benz brand ambassador Boris Becker – who is also a representative of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation – took the vehicle to visit socially disadvantaged children in London. The children decorated the sedan with multi-colored handprints; they were also invited to attend the concert later that evening.

“It is a great honor for us to be able to support a public figure like Nelson Mandela who has influenced entire generations and has inspired people," said Dr. Olaf Göttgens, Vice President Brand Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars. “In recognition of Mandela as a symbolic figure for the next generation, and in appreciation of his efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, children have decorated a new Mercedes-Benz C 350 with their handprints.”

Klitschko Gives At-Risk Children A Fighting Chance

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:36:35 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko is donating at least half a million dollars to Laureus Sport for Good Foundation programs for at-risk children in New York’s Bronx.

The Laureus Foundation offers a range of activities for local, disadvantaged children. Before learning to box, the children learn life skills and values, and participate in academic enrichment programs. They are also provided with a positive place to escape from the harsh realities of a depressed home and street life where absentee parents, substance abuse, and domestic violence are common.

Klitschko’s gift to Laureus comes from two sources. The first $350,000 comes from his fan base, who responded to his offer to embellish the robe he would wear for his championship heavyweight fight with the names of all who donated to Laureus in his name. A further $150,000 has already been offered for the robe, under auction until next month, and is expected to rise.

Laureus plans to use the money for a larger facility nearby so that the boxing program can reach a greater number of children. It will also be used to help fund an onsite computer tech centre, tutoring, health and nutrition education, a dance program, and upgraded sports equipment.

Their motto of “using sport as a tool for social change” has attracted the attention of other great athletes, like Boris Becker, Nadia Comaneci, Michael Johnson, John McEnroe, Katarina Witt and over 40 others who make up Laureus’s World Sports Academy. The Academy’s task is “to foster the development of sport, around the world through the development of a social programme” under the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

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