In a pleasantly surprising announcement, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil told the crowd gathered in the high limit area of Borgata poker room that he would match the $5K Gtd prize pool promised by Borgata and partypoker. The 1st and 2nd place finishers in the partypoker sponsored 2014 WPT World Championship Media Event now get to choose a charity to receive $8K and $2K, respectively.
If we said the atmosphere here is jubilant, it would be an astronomical understatement; there’s hootin’, hollerin’ and general celebratory noise as a motley crew of around 30 players battle it out for charitable choice control and bragging rights. Judging from the decibel level, it’s fun to pay it forward.
Some of the notable faces in the crowd included 76ers star center, Darryl Dawkins, poker iconoclasts Phil Hellmuth, Ali Nejad, Lynne Gilmartin, Vince VanPatten and 2014 Alpha 8 Contender Jeff Gross. Other household names in attendance were New Jersey Devils Hall of Famer Ken Daneyko, 76ers commentator and two time NBA Champion Malik Rose, The Royal Flush Girls, and several various members of the media.
Last but not least, WPT Tournament Director Matt Savage and our very own #teampartypoker players Jamie Kerstetter, Scott Baumstein, Kara Scott and Mad Marvin Rettenmaier were there as well, showing the masses what #teampartypoker is made of.
Phil Hellmuth, surprisingly, was one of the quieter players seated here tonight… We assume it’s because he busted. Um, twice.
The media event host and commentator, #teampartypoker’s Mike Sexton kept the fun going with high fives, applause and random one liners with each bust out. And bust outs, there were a’ many. In the end, New York Daily News writer Chris Baud took first place and gets to choose which charity will receive $8K.
Ken Daneyko will choose the $2K charity recipient, as he took the prestigious title of runner-up.
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