On March 24th, the Grand Sierra Resort Casino in Reno will host a $220 buy-in charity poker tournament benefiting the V Foundation. The event will be televised on ESPN2 and kicks off at 7:00pm local time.
A bevy of poker players are slated to appear in the name of charity, including Victory Poker front man Antonio Esfandiari, UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy, two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Jeff Madsen, poker instructor Alex Outhred, Alec “traheho” Torelli, former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, Erick Lindgren’s significant other Erica Schoenberg, 2007 Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood, actor Mekhi Pfifer, embattled baseball great Jose Canseco, Absolute Poker’s Trishelle Cannatella, and Liv Boeree.
Outhred, one of the event’s promoters, told Poker News Daily, “Half of the prize pool will go to the V Foundation. On site, we’ll be selling raffle tickets for two spots for the race.” The tournament will have $100 rebuys and “the race” in question will be on skis at Mount Rose. Racers will run two at a time and among those likely to take part is recent World Poker Tour (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star winner Mclean Karr. Flanking him will be many of the aforementioned poker pros along with Maria Ho, Phil Laak, Ali Prescott, UB.com’s Matt “mattg1983” Graham, and “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok.
On Friday, Outhred proudly announced to cyberspace that Canseco had joined the ski lineup, Tweeting, “Ok folks. Our 14th ski race slot has just been filled by… Jose Canseco. Yes, Jose Canseco on skis. Now it’s a race.” The race part of the event is dubbed “Take it Downhill,” a pun on the popular poker term, and Outhred explained the harmony between poker and skiing: “We’re trying to combine the two. A lot of poker folks like to ski and snowboard.” The race takes place one day after the charity poker tournament and a barbeque with flowing beer will follow it.
Because of the star-studded cast of celebrities and poker players as well as the involvement of the V Foundation, ESPN2 has allotted a 30-minute window for the event to be beamed into millions of households around the United States. Outhred explained, “The V Foundation would love to get involved in the poker world. There are already a number of different foundations and charity tournaments. We’ve gotten the thumbs up from ESPN for a 30-minute time slot on ESPN2. We just need to hand deliver them a fully produced show.”
Prizes for the V Foundation charity poker tournament include cash payouts, seats in upcoming events, and lessons from poker pros. A cocktail party will kick off the festivities at 5:30pm and, an hour and a half later, the poker tournament will begin. The entire gala marks the first tournament for Check-Raise Events, which is looking to make a splash in the poker world. The winner of the charity poker tournament will have a cancer grant created in their name.
The V Foundation supports cancer research and is named in honor of Jim Valvano, who won the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament in 1983 with North Carolina State. The Foundation receives a considerable amount of support from ESPN and holds several high-profile fundraisers including an annual golf outing and a college basketball tournament dubbed the Jimmy V Classic. Tickets for the ski portion of the event will be available at Mount Rose.
Outhred is a pro at Deepstacks University along with major poker names like Mike Matusow, T.J. Cloutier, Michael Binger, Tom McEvoy, and Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg. The 14 members of Team Deepstacks have more than $30 million in live and online poker winnings. Learn more about the V Foundation Charity Poker Tournament.
