Later this month, several top names from the poker community will be in attendance for two tournaments in Colorado to benefit charitable causes.
Leading the list of poker players who will journey to Fort Collins, Colorado are the leading ladies for UB.com, Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho. Recent Poker Pro Network signee Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh, Jena Delk, and two icons of the poker industry, PokerGives founders Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher, will join them.
The weekend of poker begins on March 26th with the Four Deuces Charity Event. Beginning at Noon, players and fans will gather together for VIP guided tours of two of the top regional breweries in Colorado, the Odell Brewing Company and New Belgium Brewing Company. Then, the entourage will dine at Rodizio Grill before heading to the home of the President of Kroll Factual Data, Jerry Donnan. Tickets for the Four Deuces Charity Event are $1,000 and are tax deductible.
On March 27th, the Fort Collins Series of Poker’s Celebrity Knockout Event will take place, with player registration beginning at 10:00am. The tournament will begin around Noon, with a bounty placed on the heads of the celebrities in attendance. If a player is able to eliminate any of the celebrities, they will receive a special trophy and photo opportunity.
The Celebrity Knockout Event will also feature consolation tables for those who are eliminated early in the main tournament. In addition, a team tournament will play out.
All of the proceeds from the weekend will benefit the Realities for Children Triumph Awards. The organization is dedicated to serving the unmet needs of abused and neglected children in Larimer County. With its endowment fund, abused, neglected, and at-risk children in Northern Colorado in need of college scholarships and mentoring programs receive assistance. 100% of the monies raised through the weekend of poker activities will be dedicated to the endowment fund.
Many of the ladies involved in the Colorado event have long histories of support for charitable causes. Johnson, Ho, and Michelle all took part in the recent World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational, with Johnson taking the Day 1 chip lead and making a deep run before bowing out in 13th place. Along with WPT announcer Mike Sexton and Lisa Tenner, Johnson and Fisher founded PokerGives.org, an organization dedicated to using poker as a way of raising funds for worthwhile organizations across the country.
Lately, poker has been demonstrating its usefulness as a fundraising tool. In addition to the WPT Invitational at the end of February, which benefited Chrysalis, an event in Las Vegas hosted by Phil Hellmuth drew a tremendous crowd. The Raise Your Hand for Africa charity poker tournament at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas benefited the Starkey Hearing Foundation, a non-profit relief organization providing basic needs to the children of Africa.
Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, and Johnny Chan were in attendance for the Starkey event, as were several NFL players, although they were not in action on the felt due to a league mandate against poker tournaments.
