Star-Studded Poker Event Raises $42 000 for Charity

Submitted by Evan on Wed, 2010-02-24 at 19:24

Over the weekend, 39 celebrities and professional poker players took part in the NAPT Venetian Charity Tournament, a star-studded event to benefit the Southern Nevada food bank. Among the ranks of celebrities were Slash (of Guns and Roses fame), Marlton Waynes, Donnie Wahlberg, Jason Alexander, Tony Hawk and Christian Slater. Pokers pros in attendance included Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker and Vanessa Rousso.

The Venetian Charity Tournament was the perfect way to start off this year’s NAPT on a positive note. The $500 buy-in was put towards Three Squares, a Las Vegas-based charity that provides food to almost 300 different organizations across Nevada. Julie A. Murray, CEO of the organization voiced her excitement at working with the prestigious event:

“Hunger is a large and growing issue in our valley”, she says. “It is with the help of dedicated organizations and the support of charity-minded celebrities that we can make significant advances in our battle against hunger in Southern Nevada”.

The NAPT Main event took place the next day on Saturday, February 20. 872 players entered and, by the end of the day, only 476 remained. The tournament continued on for the next 4 days and now the remaining 24 players will duke it out in today’s event. Eric Blair is currently in first place, with a $3.7 million payout.