ISLE OF MAN CHANGES NAME IN SUPPORT OF POKERSTARS AND PROSTATE CANCER UK’S ‘LADS NIGHT IN’
Fundraisers across UK and ‘Isle of Men’ will play in charity poker games on September 25
ONCHAN, Isle of Man – August 20, 2015 – PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand and leading men’s health charity Prostate Cancer UK, are joining forces for a special one-night event in a bid to raise awareness and funds to help beat prostate cancer.
‘Lads Night In’, which will take place on Friday September 25, 2015, is aimed at bringing friends in the UK and Isle of Man together to hold a poker home game and help raise money for a great cause while having fun. Participants are encouraged to donate the prize pool from their home game to Prostate Cancer UK. Funds raised by players will help Prostate Cancer UK drive the game-changing research that could lead to earlier diagnosis and better treatments, as well as much-needed support services.
Owen Sharp, Chief Executive at Prostate Cancer UK said: “Prostate cancer kills one man every hour. We’re doing everything we can to change this, but it’s a numbers game and we urgently need more help if we are going to reduce the number of lives being cut short by this disease. That’s why we are calling on as many people as possible to get involved, raise funds over a friendly game of poker, and help beat this silent killer once and for all.
“We’re proud to be partnering with PokerStars. The ethos of our Men United campaign is all about reaching out to men on their own turf, to inspire action for men’s health, and with a predominantly male player base it’s a natural fit. With PokerStars’ backing, we can reach a huge pool of men to raise awareness about prostate cancer and motivate a whole new community.”
ISLE OF MEN
To increase awareness and early detection of prostate cancer and to support the efforts of ‘Lads Night In’, Amaya CEO David Baazov and PokerStars CEO Michael Hazel, plus many members of PokerStars’ staff, Manx poker fans, local residents and members of government united by putting on white boiler suits at the National Sports Centre, Douglas, Isle of Man to create a real life Prostate Cancer UK logo; a man made of men.
The Isle of Man Government’s Department of Economic Development is getting behind the cause and showing its support for ‘Lads Night In’ and all it’s aiming to achieve by announcing that they will be re-naming the Island the Isle of Men for the day and the main visitor information site will change from ‘Visit Isle of Man’ to ‘Visit Isle of Men’.
David Cretney Department of Economic Development's political member with responsibility for Tourism, better known locally as the ‘Minister for Fun’ said: “We are very happy to support PokerStars and Prostate Cancer UK with this campaign. I am sure that the people of the Isle of Man will want to be involved and this was demonstrated with our human Prostate Cancer UK logo! The Isle of Men will come alive on September 25th and hopefully more lives will be saved because of that.”
LOCAL BUSINESSES SHOW SUPPORT
Athol Garage generously donated a ‘Lads Night In’ branded car to PokerStars staff to raise awareness across the island. PokerStars’ staff are being encouraged to take the car out and get a photo at their destination which they then upload to the Athol Garage Facebook page. The Garage will then pick a winner based on the most creative photo. Local radio station, 3FM, have been helping to spread the word and encouraging people to host a ‘Lads Night In’. Bang & Olufsen IOM also joined in with the fun by donating prizes for competitions that ran at the Southern Agricultural Show and the Royal Manx Agricultural Show earlier this month.
The Best Western Palace Casino is hosting a ‘Lads Night In’ £50 entry tournament on Thursday September 24th. It will be a great night with free food and drink for all participants, and as the prize pool is being donated to Prostate Cancer UK, there will be some fantastic non-cash prizes up for grabs, including UK and Ireland Poker Tour IOM tournament entries, as well as a range of PokerStars branded prizes.
The Palace Casino are offering qualifier events with a £10 buy-in starting from August 28th and running every Friday until the ‘Lads Night In’ main event.
Other local businesses are also showing their support with special ‘Lads Night In’ initiatives, but you will have to wait until the day to see what they’ve got planned!
To host your own ‘Lads Night In’ sign up online at http://prostatecanceruk.org/get-involved/find-a-fundraising-event/lads-night-in Everyone who registers will receive a special ‘Lads Night In’ pack, with a few gifts including a deck of cards, donated by PokerStars, that can be used to play an unforgettable game with friends, and in doing so make a difference to many men’s lives across the Isle of Men.
For further information, please contact: press@pokerstars.com
Isle of Men:
As a gesture of support from the Isle of Man Government, the island can be referred to as the Isle of Men for the day for those who wish to raise awareness of prostate cancer and encourage more people to get involved in Lads Night In. The Isle of Man’s Department of Economic Development is changing the name of the official Isle of Man visitor information site – Visit Isle of Man - for one day on sept 25th. It will be renamed Visit Isle of Men for the day. The logo will be changed to read Visit Isle of Men and a www.visitisleofmen.com address can be accessed which will redirect to www.visitisleofman.com (www.visitisleofman.com will be accessible as normal.)
About PokerStars
PokerStars operates the world’s most popular online poker sites, serving the global poker community. Since it launched in 2001, PokerStars has become the first choice of players all over the world, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else and with the best security online.
PokerStars is the key brand of Rational Group, which operates gaming-related businesses and brands, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the European Poker Tour. PokerStars is owned by Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA).
Helping Hands is PokerStars Corporate Giving Programme which was launched in 2013 and has contributed more than $7 million to charities around the world.
About Men United and Prostate Cancer UK:
- Men United is Prostate Cancer UK’s movement for everyone who believes that men are worth fighting for, to help us beat prostate cancer and keep friendships alive. Over 200,000 people engaged with Men United in 2014.
- Search Men United, or visit prostatecanceruk.org/menunited
- Prostate Cancer UK works to get men in all areas of the country the early detection, effective diagnosis and better treatments that will beat this disease.
- Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. More than 10,000 men die every year from this male-only disease, and 330,000 men are living with prostate cancer in the UK.
- Anyone with concerns about prostate cancer can contact Prostate Cancer UK’s Specialist Nurses in confidence on 0800 074 8383 or via the online Live chat, instant messaging service: www.prostatecanceruk.org. The Specialist Nurse phone service is free to landlines and open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday with late opening until 8pm on Wednesdays.
- Regarding Lads Night In: We are running Lads Night In within legal regulations and with Gambling Commission approval, under the terms of our Gambling License. We have also made clear that we are not encouraging people to gamble for money, rather to have a friendly game of poker and donate 100% of the ‘pot’ to us. We are signposting people to gambleaware.co.uk for information about responsible gambling.