The idea of it throws the whole concept of gambling on its ear; funny thing is, it looks dashing that way. Playing online casino games only to give your winnings away to charity is not without precedent.

Long before online casino game rooms adopted the practice, Barry Greenstein was making a name for himself doing just that: raking in the pots in mostly Texas Hold'em poker games and distributing the money to places like Children Incorporated, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, ILoveSchools.com, March of Dimes, 999 for Kids, and The Golden Angels for Olive Crest. Well, now you too can be an online casino game philanthropist, with the help of many of your (and our) favorite online casino game rooms.

Maybe the most publicized online casino game hall that gives to charities is Golden Palace Online Casino, but their style of charitable giving is to bid extraordinary amounts on auctions for rare oddities of questionable value with the proceeds all going to charity. But this doesn't empower you, as a player, to be the source or the object of the giving. That your online casino game room donates to charity is nice, yes. But how would you like to be the one, with your online casino game room's help, that makes the difference?

Hollywood Poker is after that prestige, however, aiming to become the number one online poker room associated with charitable giving. In reaction to the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina, Hollywood Poker, in December of 2005, hosted an online poker tournament whereby they matched donor-player's entry fees dollar for dollar, with all proceeds (the full $47,950) given to the American Red Cross and the International Hospital for Children.

Hollywood Poker also hosted a land-based tournament benefiting MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) in which 170 players participated in raising $69,000. This amounted to 10% of the buy-ins and re-buys.

Ultimate Bet hosts many online casino games for charity; even online poker too. Though 100% of the proceeds go to charity, the winner of each tournament does get something worthwhile besides that special feeling inside that comes from doing good for someone else: most recently, that took the shape of an Apple iPod Nano. In that particular Pro Bounty Charity Tournament, the player who knocked out poker celebrity Annie Duke also got an Apple iPod Nano. You can count on Ultimate Bet to keep coming up with innovative ways to reward you for your goodwill.

Bodog is another online casino game hall that's been hosting charitable tournaments for years, with donations to (among others): the Fisher House Foundation, The L.A. Laker's Youth Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Sean McCauley Hope Foundation for Pediatric Cancer, the Humane Society, and the Animal Avengers Organization. As of this writing, Bodog's latest charitable event will be a grand-scale Casino Royale at a land-based location to raise money for Art of Elysium, a charity that brings creativity and art into the lives of ill and underprivileged children.

Royal Vegas Online Casino and Poker Room makes it possible for players to set up and host their own charitable online casino games for the charity or charities of your choice. They'll help you promote the tournament and even match a percentage of the funds you raise (based also on the number of players that participate), so your overall donation will be even larger. Royal Vegas, incidentally, also hosts the College Poker Championship, where the players are college students and the prizes are cash scholarships to college.

There are many online casinos and poker rooms that host online casino games for charity. Find out if yours does, and make your online casino game experience that much more rewarding.