On Friday, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas will play host to The Poker Jingle, a charity poker tournament to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The event is hosted by 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Tom McEvoy, who holds a total of four bracelets. The buy-in is $230 and the tournament is being held in memory of Mindy Trinidad.
An army of poker pros will join McEvoy at the Hard Rock. Eleven-time WSOP bracelet winner and Ultimate Bet front man Phil Hellmuth will take part the festivities, as will Full Tilt Poker Pro Erick Lindgren. The winner of the $5,000 Mixed Hold’em event during this year’s WSOP for his first bracelet, Lindgren is giving a $10,000 Main Event seat away to the charity tournament’s winner. Beth Shak, who is fresh off organizing a fundraiser that benefited the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, will also join the festivities in Las Vegas, which is located cross-country from her home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Hellmuth emceed the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament in Las Vegas, which was organized by his sidekick on Ultimate Bet, Annie Duke, as well as actor Don Cheadle.
Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch, a former blackjack team member, will take part in The Poker Jingle. Bloch was the runner up in the inaugural $50,000 HORSE Championship at the 2006 World Series of Poker and also turned in a second place performance in the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship this year. He’s amassed over $2.1 million in earnings from WSOP and Circuit Event stops. Among Bloch’s competition on Friday will be Todd Brunson, son of poker legend Doyle Brunson. He won a $2,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Eight or Better tournament during the 2005 WSOP for his lone WSOP bracelet, besting Allen Kessler heads-up.
On the star-studded line-up slated to appear at the event, LLS’ Sylvia Wolf told Poker News Daily, “I thought it was a result of lots of hard work and diligence, the incredible support of the poker community, and GreasieWheels that we were able to attract them.” GreasieWheels handles the media and talent coordination for several major fundraising events, including the recent Hoyt Corkins Celebrity Poker Tournament held at Red Rock Harley-Davidson in Las Vegas.
Wolf added that she was looking forward to McEvoy as the event’s host: “We’re very excited to get Tom McEvoy, a WSOP Main Event winner. We’re also very excited about Erick Lindgren, not only because he is the reigning WSOP Player of the Year, but also because he hosted an online event a few weeks ago for us.” Other players slated to be a part of the fundraising effort include 2006 WSOP Main Event Champion Jamie Gold, Jennifer Harman and husband Marco Traniello, Team PokerStars Pro member Barry Greenstein, and 2007 WSOP Main Event Champion Jerry Yang.
The buy-in is $230 and the tournament begins at 3:00pm Pacific Time. It’s open to the public and a variety of bounty prizes will be available. For example, the “last woman standing” will receive a pearl necklace and a “Tom McEvoy challenge” will be held. Sponsors of the gala include LIPS, Apivita, EFFEN Vodka, 2 Step Images, the World Series of Poker Academy, and Mary Kay Jewelers. Advanced registration is available on the Poker Jingle home page.
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society estimates that nearly 140,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma in 2008. The three diseases will be responsible for the deaths of over 50,000 Americans this year. LLS was founded in 1949 and is based in White Plains, New York. Trinidad’s friend, Kelli Griggs, will speak prior to the start of the tournament.
