With high profile events going on in both the professional poker world and the professional golf circuit, it may be surprising that some of their brightest stars would bypass an event. For these gentlemen, however, it is for a good cause.
Tonight, World Series of Poker Championship Event winners Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson will be joining four-time Masters Champion Tiger Woods in festivities for “Tiger Jam,” a fundraiser founded in 1998 by the golf champion to benefit his Tiger Woods Foundation. Part of those activities will be a very special poker tournament, a first time feature of the “Tiger Jam” weekend. At the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas tonight, Hellmuth and Brunson will join Woods for “Tiger’s Poker Night,” a $10,000 buy in poker tournament with several lucrative prizes.
According to USA Today, the $10,000 buy in will guarantee admission to the tournament for the player, a suite at the Mandalay Bay for the player and a guest, and two tickets to a special Saturday night concert featuring rock musician Jon Bon Jovi. The grand prize for the poker tournament is the opportunity to play in a foursome with Woods, with other prizes such as putting lessons from Woods, spots in selected Pro-Am tournaments on the PGA Tour, autographed Woods memorabilia and a custom golf club fitting available to the players.
While poker is having some high profile events – the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final and the World Poker Tour’s Jacksonville BestBet Open are currently underway – and professional golf is featuring a stop in New Orleans for the Zurich Classic, the threesome taking some time away is not unexpected. Hellmuth, a devoted family man along with being the all-time record holder for WSOP bracelets, spends much of his time outside of major tournament poker as a philanthropist, dedicating his time and efforts to several charitable causes.
Brunson continues to be a force on cash game tables around the Las Vegas area, but he has scaled back his participation in the tournament poker world somewhat. At 78, Brunson has little left to prove on that front; one of only four men to have won the WSOP Main Event twice and the owner of ten overall WSOP bracelets, Brunson has been active in the game for over fifty years, a “living legend” who has garnered championships around the world, earning over $6 million from tournament poker and untold amounts through his cash game efforts.
Woods also doesn’t need the chase of another golf tournament championship to prove his worth. The owner of 99 worldwide tournament championships, including fourteen majors, Woods is considered one of the most successful golfers in the history of the game. Although injuries have sapped some of his strength over the past couple of years, he is still a threat to win anytime he steps on the golf course.
The Tiger Woods Foundation, which is the beneficiary of the “Tiger Jam” weekend, has raised over $13 million since its inception. The foundation provides the opportunity for children to reach the goal of a college education, educate students in grade through high school to greater understanding of technology, engineering and math and offer counseling and mentorships to children overall. The recipients of grants from the Tiger Woods Foundation have sent students to such prestigious academic institutions as Georgetown University, the University of Southern California and Harvard.
“Tiger’s Poker Night” is set to begin at 6PM (Pacific Time) this evening at the Mandalay Bay (with the tournament starting at 7PM) and there is still time to get in on the festivities. If interested, potential players can call (949) 725-3003 for reservations.