The 2008 Ante Up For Africa poker tournament takes place at the World Series of Poker at 2pm (PST) on Wednesday, July 2nd at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Hosted by Don Cheadle and Annie Duke, this annual charity poker event hopes to raise money for victims of the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Four years of fighting have left 200,000 dead and forced 2.5 million people out of their homes to live in refugee camps in Chad and Sudan.

Last year’s event brought together dozens of Hollywood celebrities and poker pros and raised over $700,000.

Celebrities in attendance last year: Ben Affleck, Jason Alexander, Hank Azaria, Charles Barkley, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Shannon Elizabeth, Brad Garrett, Willie Garson, Cheryl Hines, Kevin James, Mekhi Phifer, Ray Romano, Adam Sandler, Kevin Smith, Martin Sheen, Donnie Wahlberg, Montel Williams.

Poker pros in attendance last year: Andy Bloch, Doyle Brunson, Miami John Cernuto, Annie Duke, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Rafe Furst, Jamie Gold, Phil Gordon, Clonie Gowen, Barry Greenstein, Joe Hachem, Russ Hamilton, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Kevin O’Donnel, David Singer, Katja Thater, Robert Williamson III, Paul Wolfe, Steve Zolotow.

Please visit the Ante Up for Africa website to see how you can help.

Can you believe the World Series of Poker is coming up on its 39th year? It’s true. The 39th Annual World Series of Poker World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold’em (Event 54) is scheduled to take place at the Rio Hotel & Casino on Thursday, July 03, 2008 to Tuesday, July 15, 2008. It’s a 13-day event that’s guaranteed to provide plenty of nail-biting action for spectators of the game, as well as lots of nerve-wracking moments for both pro and amateur poker players alike.

Last year’s winner, Jerry Yang, walked away with $8.25 million; the year before that Jamie Gold took home a sweet $12 million. What’s particularly intriguing about the WSOP Main Event is that history has proven that you don’t have to be a professional poker player to become the next World Champion. Over the last few years online poker players have made great strides in taking their game from online to offline, and in the process winning some seriously real cash.

Whether you’ve played in land-based tournaments before or not, the WSOP is a must-attend event for anyone who considers him or herself to be competitive poker player.

Get the complete schedule to the 2008 WSOP here.

So you didn’t do so well at that online poker tournament you registered for last week. Who hasn’t gone into a tournament with high hopes only to get taken out early in the game? It isn’t the end of the world and it certainly doesn’t spell the end of your online poker playing. What you need now is more arsenal. When it comes to poker, knowing the basics will only get you so far; like anything else in life — knowledge is power. So listen up before you ante up:

Know your math: Pot odds, probabilities, the importance of outs…there is some amount of math involved in playing poker. Stay on top by staying smart.

Exercise discipline: A good poker player expects to win and hopes that everyone else at the table isn’t having their luckiest day. And it takes discipline to know when to play and when to quit. Learning from your mistakes also takes great discipline.

Observe your opponents: Empathize with them, watch their body language and look for tells. With each of your opponents, try to figure out what they’re holding. Do you think they may have some idea as to what you’re holding?

Risk vs. Reward: It’s okay to take a long-shot risk if you know the return is going to be greater.

With these four simple behaviors to take to your next poker tournament you’ll be surprised at how long you’ll last and how many chips you’ll stack up! Good luck!

Forget about basic poker strategy for a minute and think about this: Your Poker Face. Do you have one? If you intend on playing most of your poker games online then it’s not a huge concern. But I guarantee you this — it will be a big deal at your next home poker game or poker tournament.

Think of your best poker face being a lot like a blank canvass. You don’t want it to reveal anything. Cold. Anyway, give it some thought. In the meanwhile consider these famous poker faces:

Doyle Brunson

Chris Ferguson

Greg Raymer

Think you’ve got what it takes to look like any one of these guys? Maybe not. But the poker face you take to your next poker game ought to be just as expressionless.

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