Dan Shak Donating 10 Percent of Poker Winnings to CharityHedge Fund Manager Contributing 1 Percent to NephCure |
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Few tournament poker players have started out 2010 as well as Dan Shak has.
Besides going deep and cashing in the PCA, Aussie Millions, and Borgata Winter Open main events, Shak beat Phil Ivey heads up to win the high-roller event in Australia to launch his 2010 winnings past $1.3 million. And we’re not even through February yet.
In what has already been a career year for Shak, the New York hedge-fund manager has decided that he wants to give something back. Shak has pledged to give at least 10 percent of his poker cashes in 2010 to various charities — already setting aside more than $130,000 for several to-be-determined organizations.
Shak is no stranger to charity. He and his ex-wife Beth Shak have hosted a charity poker tournament benefitting the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Shak himself has quietly donated to a variety of organizations over the years. He decided to make his pledge public this year in the hopes that other poker players might follow suit.
“I saw Jennifer Harman’s pledge on the Card Player website,” said Shak. “While I usually keep my donations anonymous, in the poker world, if you do it anonymously, it doesn’t really do any good.”
Shak hopes his donations might create a little bit of “a snowball effect” and encourage other poker players to give.
Harman made a pledge last week to donate 1 percent of her future earnings to NephCure Foundation, an organization that funds research for life-threatening kidney diseases.
Shak said he will also donate 1 percent of his 2010 winnings to NephCure, as well as 1 percent each to nine other charities. He said he’s looking into which other charities to donate to.
“I think people — no matter what career they choose, if they earn money in excess of money they need to live on or want to spend — have an obligation to donate to charity,” said Shak. “I think it’s an obligation; I don’t think it’s a choice.”
Describing himself as just a recreational poker player, Shak says he’s surprised that he’s had so much success this year, and that surprise has led him to make these donations.
“I really do just play for fun,” said Shak. “I never, ever thought that it would become a money-making venture for me.”
For more information on NephCure, visit the NephCure Foundation website.
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