The Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) saw its budget boosted by $130,000 as a result of a fundraiser spearheaded by Jennifer Harman. Over 120 players turned out for the tournament, which took place at the Venetian on Friday night.
Last year, a total of 220 players turned out and donated $325,000. Tournament organizer Lisa Wheeler speculated why the event attracted a smaller field in 2009. The founder of GreasieWheels Productions told Poker News Daily, “I think it was a combination of the economy, the start of the World Poker Tour Championship, and a lot of our pros playing all night in a live game at Bobby’s Room. Also, because it took so long for the Venetian to give us approval, we only had nine days to promote the event.” Nevertheless, some of the top names in the game turned out, including Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Ivey.
In addition to the bevy of poker talent, celebrities including “The Simpsons” voice Nancy Cartwright and “Dancing with the Stars” contestant Karina Smirnoff. Cartwright, who supplies the voice of Bart Simpson on the popular animated comedy series, served as the emcee of a live auction and gave the tournament’s “Shuffle up and deal” command. Poker player Lacey Jones was the highlight of the auction; Negreanu purchased a date with her for a price tag of $28,000. In addition, Robert Williamson III helped raise over $40,000 as part of the festivities.
Chef Dakake donated a dinner for 12 at his Las Vegas restaurant with former baseball legend Pete Rose and Harman. Full Tilt Poker pro and former MIT Blackjack Team member Andy Bloch purchased the unique evening for a $10,000 donation. ABA Energy’s Al Adler donated a ride on a private jet for five people to anywhere on the West Coast of the United States plus overnight accommodations for two nights. That experience also was sold in the live auction and fetched a bid of $10,000.
Several SPCA representatives were in attendance. The evening generated much-needed funds in a down economy for the organization. Wheeler explained, “They were thrilled. They stayed all the way until the end. They count on this event and this is a big chunk of money that they can do things with. Last year, they built a new wing. With the economy, people are abandoning their homes and leaving their animals.” This is the third year that the SPCA event has been held. In 2007, it also generated around $130,000; however, this time around, donations from players who were unable to make it to the Venetian are still trickling in.
Given the truncated time frame to market the event, Wheeler’s staff was forced to compress a multi-month process into just over one week. She told Poker News Daily, “It was very challenging. We got two press releases out and the viral campaign went on for 24 hours. We worked really hard on that campaign. Considering the fact that we only had a short amount of time, we were lacking very few people.” The viral campaign takes advantage of 50 social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Eleven animals walked the red carpet into the Venetian poker room, the location of the charity tournament. They included cats, dogs, a guinea pig, and even a rabbit. Attendees were given special pet-focused gift bags, which included dog treats and custom-designed cupcakes. A flat of sweets leftover from the event was sold off for charity at the conclusion of the evening. Negreanu and Layne Flack each purchased cupcakes for $200, while two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jeff Madsen helped raise an additional $180 by purchasing four cupcakes. Over 50 members of the general public watched the spectacle unfold.
GreasieWheels produces some of the poker industry’s most popular charity tournaments. Wheeler compared this go-around of the company’s marquee event to others held throughout the year: “It wasn’t hectic. It wasn’t stressful. We had a great crew and everything went wonderfully.”
