US actor Damon, others ante up for Darfur

July 6, 2007 (LAS VEGAS) — Actor Matt Damon reprised his “Rounders” role in Las Vegas, where he, Ben Affleck and others chipped in to the Ante Up for Africa fundraising poker event.

The real poker game Thursday didn’t go quite like his cinematic card efforts, though, when Damon was bumped five minutes after the tournament began — after losing to a professional poker player — People magazine reported Friday. In “Rounders,” Damon portrayed a poker player who wins, loses and eventually wins a tidy sum.

Affleck, 34, no stranger to poker, fared better. He finished in the middle of the pack, lasting longer than the other celebrity players — including Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Montel Williams, Martin Sheen and Shannon Elizabeth.

Ante Up for Africa was co-organized by Damon’s “Ocean’s Thirteen” co-star Don Cheadle and professional poker player Annie Duke, who has coached both Affleck and Damon. The event raised money for the Enough Project and the International Rescue Committee, both aiding survivors of the crisis in Darfur.

(UPI)