Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) legend Randy Couture will host the third annual “Operation All In” charity poker tournament and auction fundraiser at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 30th. The tournament and auction will benefit the Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation, which honors the veterans of America’s armed forces.
The event is open to the public and will include a celebrity charity poker tournament featuring professional players and MMA and Hollywood celebrities. There will also be live and silent auctions offering MMA memorabilia, dinner and a one-hour personal MMA lesson with Couture, autograph sessions with photo opportunities, and a Halloween after party inside Gold Diggers.
The buy-in for the tournament is $225 with $100 rebuys. Tournament participants will also receive free entry to the first annual Randy Couture Halloween Bash starting at 8:00pm inside Gold Diggers nightclub overlooking the Fremont Street Experience. For those not wishing to participate in the poker tournament, general admission tickets to the Halloween bash will be available for $25 at the door.
The winner of the tournament will take home $10,000 in cash and top finishers will win valuable prizes from a handful of sponsors. “Operation All In” is sponsored and supported by Deepstacks, the Poker Players Alliance, Full Tilt Poker, Xtreme Couture MMA, Lord Griffon, Godard Art, and the Golden Nugget.
Confirmed participants for the event include MMA fighters Couture, Tyson Griffin, Ryan Couture, Martin Kampmann, Gray Maynard, Jason Ron, Ray Sefo, Mike Pyle, and John Alessio. Professional poker players taking part include Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Layne Flack, Gavin Smith, Perry Friedman, Antonio Esfandiari, Todd Brunson, Nick and Michael Binger, Dutch Boyd, Lacey Jones, Matt Savage, and “Donk Down Radio” personality Bryan Micon.
Couture is an army veteran himself, having served in the 101st Airborne Division. Together with his wife, Couture started the Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation to raise money and awareness for troops wounded in action and their families. The Foundation’s goal is to help these brave men and women fulfill any of their unmet needs as they return to civilian life.
Couture has been involved in poker for years now. He first hit the tables during the inaugural “Operation All In” charity tournament, which was emceed by Jamie Gold in 2008. He began getting more involved with Full Tilt, holding charity tournaments on the site to support his foundation, and then during his fight against Brock Lesnar in November 2008, Couture switched brand of clothing from Affliction gear to Full Tilt Poker. The MMA legend has since been regularly linked to the site, even making an appearance on NBC’s “Poker After Dark” decked out in Full Tilt Poker logos during the show’s airing in August.
