Recently I was honored to be part of two hugely important, star-studded events in the Los Angeles area. The first was the charity event The Fallen Heroes Memorial Event Number Two hosted by the Bicycle Casino. It honored and raised money for fallen police officers and firefighters. It was a great night surrounded by men and women who do so much to make our streets safer. I felt privileged to participate in an event that gave me an opportunity to give something back to benefit our civil servants.
My involvement with the event occurred through a meeting with Deputy Scott Diamond at a WPT Boot Camp a couple of years ago. We've crossed paths many a time, usually while at the green felt.
He promised me a ride along and I dare say I will take him up on it as soon as I have the time to fully appreciate what a day in the life of a policeman might be like. The event was a $100 buy-in, with rebuys, no-limit hold'em tournament, with all of the money going to the fund.
This was the second year of the event; in the first year they had more than 100 players participate and raised $7,500 after expenses. This year there were about 160 entries and about $22,000 was raised for the charity. Full Tilt was a lead sponsor and donated gift packs and many of the prizes, including the poker table I won for taking fifth place! They also gave away chips sets, hats, jerseys, and donated other sports memorabilia for a silent auction.
Card Player Cruises donated a Mexican cruise for two as the grand prize and many local appliance stores gave up some big-screen TVs for other finalists. I thank the Bike for giving up the time and night (against the Oscars no less) to host it. Thanks to everyone who participated and hopefully next year, for the third annual event, even more will come out to help those who help us.
One funny comment was made during the play ... since there were so many novices in the tournament, I would often assist the dealers with making change and assuring the players that they got their correct change back from the pot. Many of the players were active police officers and they all thanked me for taking such good care of them and watching their backs. What could I say but thank them for doing it all of the time for me when I am out of my milieu and in the real world.
The other gold star event in which I took a part was the World Poker Tour Invitational. It was held at the Commerce Casino the day after their WPT main event. A record breaking 435 players started, including 120 celebrities. For the first time in history, only five players made the TV table as Debby Perkins and Beverly Kruskol both went broke on the same hand when seven players remained left.
History also was made when a woman won it. The champion was none other than "Master" Men Nguyen's wife, Van! Guess there is a "Mistress" in the house as well as a "Master."
This was the first WPT title won by a woman other than the ladies' nights events. Well done. I made it down to five tables, just close enough to smell it only to be disappointed, but kudos to those who did make the final taping and congrats to everyone for coming out to support this enjoyable, star studded event.
I'm writing this from a cabin on a cruise ship in the Caribbean (yes, life is amazing) and then I'm off to Singapore. Moving right along...
